Prisons are complex and require an integrated, supportive and evidence-based approach

During 2018, the HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (HMCIP) issued three Urgent Notifications after identifying significant concerns with regard to the treatment and conditions of those detained within a particular type of prison, known as 'Local' prisons. This is in the context of the highest ever rates of serious violence, self-harm and suicide, with rates having doubled within the last 7 years

Reproductive rights on the inside: A rapid evidence assessment of women’s experiences of reproductive healthcare and rights while in prison in England and Wales

Despite academic, policy and charity commissioned research giving considerable attention to the health of imprisoned women, significantly less research has considered the reproductive health and rights of this group. This shortfall is noteworthy since women who are imprisoned are often in very vulnerable positions, and so their ongoing healthcare in relation to gynaecology, obstetrics and sexual health and wellbeing, as well as access to such rights, should be a priority. These issues are exacerbated for the high number of women who are repeatedly imprisoned for short sentences. Presenting findings of a rapid evidence assessment, this article highlights the lack of attention to this aspect of imprisoned women’s health and rights, using the limited information available. The article argues that suitable reproductive healthcare needs to be seen as an essential aspect of women’s rights. Furthermore, the current nature of imprisonment in England and Wales results in multiple and frequent rights violations

The experience of young people transitioning between youth offending services to probation services

Jayne Price, The experience of young people transitioning between youth offending services to probation services, Probation Journal (Vol. 67 Iss. 3) pp. 246-263. Copyright © 2020 (SAGE). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.This article explores the experience of transitioning from youth offending services to adult probation services upon turning age 18 years whilst incarcerated. The significant differences in the level of provision has been described as a ‘cliff-edge’ (Transition to Adulthood Alliance, 2009). Drawing upon interviews with young people held in institutions, stakeholders and survey data from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP), it is argued that the drop in support is exacerbated by poor communication between institutions and services which has harmful implications for young people during this crucial period of developmental maturity and beyond custody

Saying NO To the Mega Prison

This activist contribution draws upon the issues emphasised by abolitionist activists in their struggles throughout 2017 (and before) to challenge government plans to build six new mega prisons in England and Wales by 2020. This activist contribution focuses specifically on the arguments utilised by campaigners in one of the proposed sites for a new mega prison: Bickershaw, Wigan, Greater Manchester

Detained Children: Vulnerability, Violence and Violation of Rights

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) establishes provisions and protections to which under-18s are entitled; establishing state obligations to ensure the realisation of children’s rights for all, including ‘disadvantaged’ or ‘vulnerable’ groups. This article focuses on children in England and Wales deprived of their liberty in secure care for their own or others’ protection or in custody as a result of criminal justice proceedings. It explores the proposition that secure care and custody exacerbate the existing vulnerabilities of detained children, especially in custodial settings where violence is institutionalised. Demonstrating consistent breaches of international standards, it considers the actions required to ensure the implementation of rights and effective accountability through policy and practice grounded in social justice priorities

Diversity and vulnerability in Prisons in the context of the Equality Act 2010: the experiences of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic (BAME)and Foreign National Prisoners (FNPs) in a Northern Jail

This article details findings from a pilot study that was funded by the universities of Newcastle, Northumbria and Liverpool John Moores. The study was undertaken in an English Northern prison by members of the North East Regional Race Crime and Justice Research Network (NERRCJRN) and was approved by the National Offender Management Service (NOMS). The study arose out of concerns by practitioner members of the NERRCJRN that following the passing of the Equality Act (2010) there had been a dilution of focus on ‘race’ equality. The Equality Act (2010) shifted the emphasis from an Equality Duty that was focused on distinct protected characteristics of race, disability, gender to one that is all inclusive. The concern was that the positive focus on 'race' which had been growing in recent years, particularly in prisons, would be compromised. The aims of the pilot project were to explore the experiences of BAME national and Foreign National Prisoners (FNPs) in this prison (which is a Category B adult male prison) to find out how the specific needs of these prisoners are being met and to explore how the prison is responding to and managing prisoner vulnerability in relation to 'race', post the 2010 Ac

Haunted by the Presence of Death: Prisons, Abolitionism and the Right to Life

This chapter explores how prisons in England and Wales are haunted by the presence of death. It details how prisoners experience civil death (death in law), social death (death as a worthy human being) and corporeal death (literal death of the body). The chapter discusses two different but associated abolitionist strategies to contest the prison as a place of death: (i) naming the people who have died and recognising their continued humanity, as a way to promote greater penal accountability; and, (ii) direct action as a way of ‘making something happen’. Overall, the chapter points to the need for a dedicated democratic public space (an agora) committed to rational, informed debate that recognises the inherent deadly outcomes of imprisonment