Prisons - new material (40)
01 March 2000
Home detention curfew - the first year of operation, Kath Dodgson & Ed Mortimor. Research Findings (Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate) No 110, 2000. Over 16,000 eligible prisoners were released into home detention curfew, up to 60 days before the end of their custodial part of their sentences, following the introduction of the scheme in January 1999. The report summarises the results of the process.
The prison population in 1998: a statistical review, Philip White. Research Findings (Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate) No 94, 2000. Analysis of the annual prison statistics for 1998. Recording a 47% increase in the prison population since 1993, the report notes that the average prison population was 65,298 - this was 7% up on the previous year, and saw a 16% increase for female prisoners. The number of prisoners in England and Wales, expressed per 100,000 of the population, was the second highest in western Europe.
The devil in the details: the case against the case study of private prisons, criminological research, and conflict of interest, Lanza-Kaduce, et al. Crime and Delinquency vol 46 no 1 (January) 2000, pp92-136
Classification for female inmates: moving forward, KA Farr, Crime and Delinquency vol 46 no 1 (January) 2000, pp3-17. Most state and federal prisons use a single risk-focused classification system to assign female and male inmates to an appropriate security level. Evidence indicates that women pose very little risk to institutional or community security, and that many factors that predict risk in men are invalid predictors of risk in women.
Drug injectors and prison mandatory drug testing, R Hughes. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice vol 39 no 1 (February) 2000, pp1-13. Mandatory drug testing (MDT) is a policy that requires people in prison to provide a sample to be tested for the use of "illicit drugs". Drawing on qualitative research carried out with male and female injectors this article considers their views and experiences of MDT. Five broad themes arose from the analysis of these data. These themes include people's experiences of the test, their strategies to evade drug detection, punishments for testing positive, the effect of MDT on patterns of drug use, and finally, the notions of power and risk are considered in relation to MDT. The articles concludes with a discussion on the worth of this policy.
Lavorare nel girone dei dannati (Working the level of the damned): Special report from Regina Coeli jail in Rome, Paolo Petrucci. Avvenimenti 9.4.00. The report, which has plenty of photographs, looks at conditions in this Roman jail, where overcrowding and instances of self-harm are the norm. Analyses the roles of different groups within the prison referred to as "hell", including the police, the Transfers and Supervision Unit and educators.
Can electronic monitoring make a difference?: an evaluation of three Canadian programs, J Bonta et al. Crime and Delinquency vol 46 no 1 (January) 2000, pp61-75. Electronic monitoring (EM) is a correctional program promising an alternative to imprisonment. The present study compared EM programs that differed in setting (corrections-based vs court-based) and the type of supervision (custodial staff vs probation officers). EM offenders were also compared with inmates and probationers matched for offender risk. The results showed that type of program was unrelated to program completion or recidivism and that EM had a net-widening effect. Type of supervision showed some relationship with offender and staff views of the program but, in general, EM added little value to more traditional forms of community control.
Parliamentary debates
Wandsworth Prison Lords 16.2.00. 1308-1334
Prison Population: Statistics Lords 30.3.00. cols. 906-909