offenders

Paper dealing with the social evils of UK society as experienced by people whose voices are not usually heard. Workshops/discussion groups with lone parents, ex-offenders, unemployed and other vulnerable and socially excluded people were used to explore personal experiences of living and coping with social evils. Ideas for overcoming them suggest a combined individual and collective responsibility to take forward social change.

Imprisonment for Public Protection is an indeterminate sentence given to offenders who are categorised as 'dangerous' but whose offences do not carry a life sentence. This report presents the findings of research carried out on the mental health of IPP prisoners and makes recommendations to address problems identified.

This site provides information about crime, what causes it and how it is dealt with. Features include a Crime & Justice page, Topic of the Month, Get The Facts, a Photo-Gallery, a dictionary as well as a quiz and discussion forum.

Set within the contexts of probation's centenary in Scotland (2005) and the debate about the future of criminal justice social work in Scotland, this article provides a brief account of the history of probation in Scotland, focusing on the rarely discussed period between 1905 and 1968.

Report assessing the performance of Sacro's Restorative Justice Diversion from Prosecution services. It identifies areas of service delivery which could be improved and asks what the key messages about the services are.

Report describing the obstacles to court diversion schemes for offenders with mental health problems in England and Wales and arguing that early and more structured interventions by the health care and justice systems would improve care and reduce the cost of crime. It identifies examples of good practice in this area in England and Wales and points to the potential of a new model in mental health courts.

This report presents the findings of a survey of the views and perceptions of 2,500 young people held in prison. Information is included on young people’s perceptions of their conditions and treatment, from their transfer to the establishment to their preparation for release. The results for young women, young men, and those from black and minority ethnic backgrounds are discussed separately.

Paper highlighting the limitations of evaluating criminal justice services in terms of their impact on re-offending using reconviction data only.

It discusses the implications of this for policy and recommends the use of other research methods which conform more to the aims of specific services. It also identifies some of the limits of any criminal justice system's capacity to reduce harm in society.

Paper highlighting the difficulties and barriers faced by ex-offenders when seeking employment and documenting the social and economic consequences of this situation, both for the offender and wider society. To help remove these barriers it argues for measures such as a network for employers to share their experiences of employing ex-offenders.

The report provides good quality objective information about the way community sentences are used, key facts and figures relating to trends in their use, and information about the multiple needs of adult offenders serving community sentences. It is a vital resource for anybody interested in alternatives to custody. The report is part of the Community Sentences project of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies which was set up to investigate and monitor the Community Order and Suspended Sentence Order introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003.