Lecture 3: Perpetual Crisis and Theorising Prisons Flashcards
What are 3 examples of evidence of crisis?
- Strangeways riot and Woolf Report
- Crisis of conditions
- Crisis of injustice
What is the Orthodox account of the prison crisis?
- A crisis located specifically in prisons
- It argues that 8 different components in the prison contribute to a crisis
What are the 8 components which contribute to a prison crisis (orthodox)?
- The High prison population (or the ‘Number Crisis’)
- Overcrowding
- Bad conditions (for both prisoners and staff)
- Understaffing
- Unrest among the staff
- Poor security
- The toxic mix of prisoners
- Riots and other breakdowns (epitomises the state of crisis)
What is the number crisis?
The high prison population
Whats an example of the of the state of crisis?
Riots and other breakdowns
When was the Strangeways Riot?
1-25th April
How many officers were injured in the Strangeways Riot?
147
How many people died in the Strangeways Riot?
2
How many prisoners were injured in the Strangeways Riot?
47
How much did the damage cost for the Strangeways riot?
£60 million
What did the strangeways riot prompt?
Prompted 20 ‘copycat’ or ‘solidarity’ prison disturbances nationwide
When was the Woolf Report?
1991
Why was the Woolf Report Commissioned in the aftermath of the disturbances at HMP Strangeways? (3 things)
- Determine the causes of the riot.
- What was wrong with the prison system.
- What should be done to prevent it happening again
How many recommendations did the Woolf report recommend?
- 12 central recommendations
- 204 further supporting recommendations
What agenda was the Woolf report claimed to be at the time it was written?
Claimed at the time to be the most PROGRESSIVE penal reform agenda
- a blueprint for prison policy for the next 3 decades
What 4 relevant factors did the Woolf report claim to be the causes of the Strangeways riot?
- Issues around security and control
- Problems with overcrowding
- Insanitary physical conditions
- Staffing problems
What are 3 examples of wholly unacceptable and inhumane conditions in the Woolf report?
- Impoverished regime and unsanitary conditions.
- Shortage of clean clothes.
- Limited opportunity for work/ education/time out of cell
What are 3 examples of staffing problems in Woolf report?
- Shortage of senior staff.
- No redress for perceived injustices.
- Arbitrary and oppressive staff behavior, even mental and physical brutality
What in the Woolf report didn’t support the orthodox account of crisis?
The toxic mix of prisoners refuted by Woolf
What are the limitations/ criticisms of the Orthodox account?
- The explanations mean riots are inevitable?
- Mindless or meaningful behaviour?
- Reactive or active response?
Overcrowding, inhumane prison conditions and lack of security and control significance contributed to prisoners…
Sense of INJUSTICE
Orthodox account of the prison crisis 3 recommendations to fix
(3 types of crisis)
- Number crisis
- Material crisis
- Crisis of conditions
Examples of crisis of injustice for prisoners:
- Crisis of legitimacy, decency, and moral performance
- Prisoners rights agenda
What is the prisoners rights agenda?
The right to be treated in a respectful and decent manner may be viewed as a basic human right, something that should be retained even upon imprisonment
What prison living condition recommendations were called for:
- Minimum use of custody
- Greater links between the community and the prison
- Improved conditions/ Humane containment
What is used instead of KPIs to analyse accredited standards?
Routine performance management
What did prisons drugs strategy 2019, HMPPS name was one of our biggest challenges facing our CJS today?
Substance use - easier to get into prison and hard to detect
Why was there an increase in legal highs and why is this dangerous?
Unpredictable, sometimes lethal, alternative to cannabis
How was there an increasing problem with illicit use of prescription medications in prison?
Prescribed legitimately but traded amongst other prisoners either voluntarily
What are the 3 main issues of legal highs? and what does this say about the state of our prisons?
- Health implications and death.
- Safety issues – increase in violence – undermines prison security.
- Recidivism – lower prisoners’ chance of rehabilitation.
What are the government doing about the drugs problem in prisons?
- ’ From harm to hope’ - 10 year drug plan to cut crime and save lives
- Prisons must have a zero-tolerance approach to drugs - make sure treatment is available so prisoners can make chances to reduce likelihood of re-offending
What impact did lockdown have on prisons functioning?
- 23 hours a day in your cell
- Staff shortages
- No face to face visits
- Overcrowding
- Reductions in food
How did COVID impact prisoners already released on early release schemes?
Any prisoner released had no resettlement provision
What is the Procedural Justice Theory?
Fair and transparent processes and decision-making
What is Woolf’s promotion of justice?
- The core argument is that greater justice, fairness and transparency around prison processes and decisions can improve order and the perceived legitimacy of the system
This balance and procedural justice is seen as vital amidst prisons’ security imperatives
What does the incentives and earned privileges (IEP) scheme encourage prisoners to do?
- Responsible behavior by prisoners
- Effort in work
- Sentenced prisoners to engage in activities designed to reduce re-offending
- Better controlled and safer environment for prisoners and staff
What is incentives and earned privileges (IEP) scheme?
Prisoners behavior linked to different levels of material privileges
What did Woolf call for in prisons?
A more humane, secure and just prison system across England and Wales - with a focus on better prisoner-staff relationships
IEP and justice criticisms:
- Watered down justice?
- Privileges have to be earned not an inalienable right
- Scheme more about restoring authority, rather than justice?
What did Strangeways riot throw a spotlight on?
How prisoners’ families were treated
What did Woolf call for, for prisoners families?
Better prospects for prisoners to maintain their links with families and the community through more visits
What is the farmer review?
Continuing need to include families in all aspects of prisoners’ progression
Criticisms of IEP for prisoner and staff:
- The power to move prisoners up and down levels is in the hands of the prison staff
- Issues of fairness, disparity, legitimacy and discrimination
Researching prisons moral performance - liebling 2004 quality of prison life survey highlighted:
The importance of ‘fairness, order, safety, well-being, development in prison development with family and decency
What did development with family imply?
Meaningful contact which allows relationships to develop
What relational and quality of life issues does lieblings notion of moral performance bring?
Safety, dignity, humanity, respect and opportunities for personal development
What are the impacts of austerity cuts on courts?
Gov closed half of all courts in England and Wales
What did inspectors urge for, for probation service?
An independent review
How was the Probation Service struggling?
Faces ‘chronic staff shortages’, ‘unmanageable workloads’ and ‘consistently weak’ in protecting the public
What is Lord Woolf’s report hailed to be (quotation)?
“Blueprint for the restoration of decency and justice into jails, where conditions had been intolerable”
