Rehabilitating prisoners: The place of basic life skills programmes

Purpose: Tackling high reoffending rates in England and Wales is of significant political interest, with education and training being viewed as an important mechanism to achieve change. The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of a small empirical study examining a life skills programme delivered in a Category C prison in the West Midlands. Design/methodology/approach: The study used a multi-method approach incorporating observations of two modules, four focus groups with prisoners enrolled on the programme, questionnaires with programme completers, and semi-structured interviews with staff. Findings: The findings indicate that life skills are an important component in rehabilitation. More specifically, developing the necessary tools to assist prisoners in everyday life, such as recognition, interpretation, reflection, response, and planning is fundamental to rehabilitation. Research limitations/implications: A limitation of this study was that only prisoners currently at this Category C prison were included. This could be complemented by the inclusion of more participants who had completed the programme; however, access and data protection considerations limited the study to one location. Practical implications: The key message of this study is that without addressing basic life skills, education and vocational rehabilitation is severely limited. Social implications: To reduce reoffending rates, it is important to conceive rehabilitation in broader terms, not simply in relation to education and vocational training. Originality/value: This paper offers insight into an unreported area of good practice in prison rehabilitation provision. © Emerald Publishing Limited

Water Resources Act

Creates the Water Resources Authority which has as main purpose to regulate, allocate, conserve and otherwise manage the water resources of Jamaica

Mining Act

Establishes the regulations for mining in the Country

Electricity Development Act

Creates the Electricity Authority whose main purpose is to promote and encourage the development and use of the resources of the Island for the generation of energy. It also seeks to: promote and encourage the use of electricity especially in agricultural, commercial, domestic, industrial and manufacturing purposes; conduct research into any matter related to electricity; keep under constant review the quality, reliability and availability of electricity services

Can the offence behaviours of stranger rapists discriminate between UK and non-UK nationals

Purpose Currently, no research is available for behavioural investigative advisors’ to provide justifications to infer from the crime scene that an offender is a UK or non-UK national. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Data were obtained from National Crime Agency and consisted of 651 stranger rapes, 434 UK nationals and 217 non-UK nationals. All cases were coded for 70 offence behaviour variables. χ2 analyses were conducted to identify significant associations between offence behaviours and offender nationality. Significant associations were then entered into a logistic regression analysis to assess their combined predictive ability of offender nationality. Findings Analyses revealed 11 offence behaviours with significant associations to offender nationality: confidence, darkness, offender kisses victim, victim performs sex acts, requests sex acts, apologises, destroys forensics, block entry/exit, weapon – firearm, vaginal penetration – hands/fist/digital, and violence: minimal. From this, seven variables held predictive ability within the logistic regression, with five predicting the non-UK grouping and two the UK grouping. Research limitations/implications Future research should test the distinctions between UK and non-UK national stranger rapists and explore the impact of length of residency. Practical implications Results indicated that on the whole UK and non-UK stranger rapists display similar behaviours, but there were some distinct behaviours within stranger rape crime scenes, particularly the use of firearms. The ability to use crime scene behaviours to narrow suspect pools by criminal conviction is only useful when police have access to full criminal histories. Unfortunately, the ability to access and search non-UK databases is not always possible. Therefore, this study may be the first step for BIAs to utilise in identifying the likely offender nationality, before using further models that narrow down to criminal history. Originality/value This is the first study to examine whether it is possible to differentiate stranger rapists nationality using their offence behaviours

Where has all the youth crime gone? youth justice in an age of austerity

Youth justice under the Coalition government in England and Wales has been characterised by considerable gains — falling youth crime, increased diversion and substantial reductions in child imprisonment — that would generally be associated with a progressive agenda. Focusing on youth justice policy in England and Wales, this article suggests that the tensions implicit in a government of the new right delivering outcomes that demonstrate an increased tolerance to children who offend can be explained by the logic of austerity. That same logic brings with it other policy measures that are potentially less compatible with children's well-being

Professional Perspectives of Youth Justice Policy Implementation:Contextual and Coalface Challenges

© 2020 The Authors. The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice published by Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd This article offers a multilayered analysis of the subjective perspectives and experiences of key youth justice stakeholders; exploring the inherent dynamism, contradiction, non-linearity, and contentiousness of youth justice policy implementation. We interrogate how professionals make sense and meaning of policy in the real world and how professional perspectives drive and shape their contributions to policy implementation nationally and locally. Contemporaneously, these analyses enable us to critically examine the caricatures, stereotypes, and assumptions that can (mis)inform common constructions, representations, and understandings of youth justice policy trajectories, including those relating to contextual stability, conceptual clarity, robust evidence bases, and purported foundations in stakeholder consensus

Alternatives to custodial remand for women in the criminal justice system: a multi-sector approach

Throughout the world, women involved in criminal justice systems often present with substantial needs and vulnerabilities. Diverting vulnerable people away from prison is government policy in England and Wales, but full psychiatric and social assessments are expensive and hard to access. A screening and quick response initiative ‐ alternatives to custodial remand for women (ACRW) ‐ was implemented across three areas of London (West, South and East) to supplement existing court liaison and diversion services, to assess the feasibility of a supplementary custodial remand service as part of a women's specialist service pathway in the criminal justice system in England. Three mental health trusts and two voluntary sector providers offered this service enhancement – a screening and service link provision in three London boroughs between 2012 and 2014. We conducted a service evaluation using routinely collected service use record data. The service made 809 contacts, of whom 104 had contact on multiple occasions. Many were identified as at risk of self‐harm (46%) or had histories of hospital admission for mental disorder (36%), but few were referred either to the liaison and diversion service or specialist mental health services. The largest group of referrals was to women's community services outside the health service (e.g. counselling, domestic violence or sexual abuse services). 180 women had dependent children and 22 were pregnant, increasing the urgency to find non‐custodial alternatives. As well as confirming high levels of need amongst women entering the criminal justice system, this evaluation confirms the feasibility of working across sectors in this field, providing an extra layer of service that can complement existing liaison and diversion service provision. The service was responsive and most women using it were kept out of custody. Research is now required to understand the appropriateness of the referrals, the extent to which women follow them through and the impact on their mental health and desistance from offending

A more promising architecture? Commissioners’ perspectives on the reconfiguration of personality disorder services under the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) pathway

Purpose – This paper explores the views of NHS England (NHSE) and Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) commissioners about the Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) pathway. Design/methodology/approach – Thematic analysis of four semi-structured interviews with NHSE and HMPPS commissioners. Findings – Commissioners offered a cautious but confident assessment of the potential effectiveness of the OPD pathway, drawing particular attention to its potential to enhance the confidence and competency of staff, offer better value for money and provide enhanced progression routes for offenders with personality disorders. Additionally, commissioners identified a number of potential risks for the pathway including wider system flux, funding availability, multi-agency working, offender engagement and the need to evidence effectiveness. Research limitations/implications - Our analysis is based on a small number of interviews. However, there are only a limited number of commissioners involved with the OPD pathway. Practical implications - While the stronger focus on progression in the OPD pathway is a welcome departure from a narrow focus on high security DSPD services, the foundations of the OPD pathway ultimately lie with the DSPD programme and similar challenges are likely to follow. The system within which the pathway operates is subject to a great deal of flux and this inevitably poses significant challenges for pathway services, staff and offenders, as well as for those of us charged with its evaluation. Originality/value – There has been limited empirical work with commissioners in the mental health field. Our paper offers a unique insight into the perspectives of those responsible for commissioning the OPD pathway