prisons

This episode of Radio 4's Woman's Hour series looks at ways in which to help families who have been affected by the imprisonment of a family member. The charity, Action for Families, is co-ordinating 'family relationship workshops' in prisons. At Ashwell Prison near Leicester, wives and partners come together with male prisoners to spend a day thinking through some of the problems they may face. Caroline Swinburne joins Theresa Oldman of Relate.

The International Centre for Prison Studies seeks to assist governments and other relevant agencies to develop appropriate policies on prisons and the use of imprisonment. It carries out its work on a project or consultancy basis for international agencies, governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Report presenting the findings of a review which aimed to provide both an overview of mental health provision in London's prisons and an appreciation of the issues confronting those responsible for providing prison mental health services.

Report examining the issue of crime in Scotland by looking at key indicators and the policies in place to deal with criminal behaviour, in particular focusing on policing, courts and sentencing to see what actions could be taken in those areas to achieve a long term fall in the crime rate.

Report presenting the findings of a review of the provision of and need for mental health care in five prisons in the West Midlands and making recommendations on how services could be improved.

This briefing paper examines the provision of mental health care in the criminal justice system. It looks at what has been achieved to date and identifies priorities for further work. It starts with an overview of the prison population, looking at ethnicity, gender, young people and Imprisonment for Public Protection.

The section on mental health care in prison covers: identifying mental health problems; transfer to NHS care; primary mental health care; dual diagnosis; personality disorders. Alternatives to imprisonment including diversion and community sentences are discussed.

Report intended for policy makers interested in prison and sentencing reform. It presents evidence about the situation in Scotland and ideas for future policy development in Scotland. These ideas are based on research presented by academics at a seminar on sentencing reform held 12 December 2008.

Report providing an overview of crime and justice policies in Scotland and making comparisons with data from previous reviews to give an indication of how Scotland is performing.

Report of the Bradley Inquiry into the extent to which offenders with mental health problems or learning disabilities in England could be diverted from prison to other services and the obstacles to such diversion. The report makes recommendations on the organisation of effective court liaison and diversion arrangements and the services required to support them.

Report providing a review of the inspection activities of HMIP in Scotland as well as reporting on the issues of severe and enduring mental health problems in Scotland's prisons and young offenders in adult establishments.