Discursive Detours in the Route to Justice for Women

There has been much activity within the criminal justice system in Scotland aimed at securing an approach to women in prison that is ‘radical and ambitious’; a call that was made by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Michael Matheson when he announced a halt to the development of a 300-bed prison for women at Inverclyde. Following his announcement, much activity was instigated as the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and Scottish Government reviewed their plans for women, with meetings convened across the country to discuss what should happen next. There has been an admirable determination across all agencies to maintain momentum for change

Justice for Women: A Penal Utopia?

For more than two decades, there has been an ongoing critique of penal responses to women in the criminal justice system.  Calls to reduce the female prison population have been many, and attempts at reform have been ongoing. In Scotland, a recent decision to halt the building of a new 300-350 bed prison for women was widely welcomed, although in the aftermath of this decision, the potential of ‘alternative’ resources appears to be creating something of a conundrum. Despite all the academic, policy and activist research over these decades, the options for radical responses seem vague and contested.  This paper reflects upon utopian traces, existing in the present and drawn from the past, to consider what a radical ‘alternative’ for women requires in practice and, what could be implemented to address ‘social harm’ in this gendered context. Looking outside the criminal justice system, the impulses of critical feminist theory are examined to consider what is required for a ‘just society’ for women

The Imprisonment of Women in Scotland: Restructure, Reform or Abolish?

The use of imprisonment and non-custodial alternatives for women in Scotland has remained a focus of attention in the 10 years since the publication of the Corston report. However, events in Scotland have been influenced to a greater extent by the Commission on Women Offenders (2012) which called, among other things, for the closure of HMP and YOI Cornton Vale, Scotland's national prison for women. The Commission's recommendations focused considerable attention on the structural organisation of the prison system in relation to women, a commitment to new forms of custody and more effective use of 'punishment in the community'. However, the 'fragmented landscape' of community provisions remains a focus of concern for penal reformers and as this paper will argue, the potential for radical change in Scotland – as in England and Wales – requires a more critical analysis of 'justice' for women

Criminal justice responses to drug related crime in Scotland

This article examines contemporary developments in criminal justice responses to drug related crime. Drawing on evaluations of initiatives which have been introduced in Scotland along with published statistical data, it considers the expansion of drug treatment through the criminal justice system and the implications this has for increasing access to services. Importantly, it considers the potential consequences of implementing 'treatment' requirements, underpinned by potential sanctions for non-compliance, at different stages of the criminal justice process. It is argued that the introduction of interventions at different points in the criminal justice process may have increased access to treatment services, though the extent of engagement with services is called into question, especially where treatment is voluntary or less obviously 'coerced'. Moreover, there is evidence that extending treatment through the criminal justice system may have had the effect of drawing some individuals further into the criminal justice process than would previously have been the case, despite limited evidence of the effectiveness of many such interventions on drug use, associated offending and wider aspects of individuals’ lives

Final Report

This study was undertaken to examine responses to young people in Scotland who run away from home or substitute care. The study, commissioned by 1 in 9, The Scottish Coalition for Young Runaways, originated from concerns about the experiences of young people who run away or are forced to leave where they live and aimed to find out more about the responses currently in place to address the needs of these young people

(Re)imagining Punishment and Justice

First paragraph: THIS SPECIAL EDITION of Scottish Justice Matters is focused upon Reimagining Punishment and Justice and we hope the ideas it contains will play an important part in the development of new ways of thinking about punishment and justice by exposing contradictions in the gap between the desire for a better future and the constructed ‘naturalness’ of existing conditions. For us, the discussions and debates that emerged around the Scottish Referendum in 2014 epitomised many of these contradictions, notably the relationship between a desire for social change and a reluctance to move beyond the ‘already known’. This has been a characteristic of many aspects of social life, as well as a feature of Scottish criminal justice