Prisons - new material (26)
01 December 1997
Curfew orders with electronic monitoring: the first twelve months Ed Mortimer & George Mair. Research Findings (Home Office Research and Statistics Directorate) No 51 1997 pp4.
The prison population in 1996 Philip White & Jo Woodbridge, Statistical Bulletin (Home Office) Issue 18/97 pp24.
A drop in the ocean? The Discharge grant and the immediate needs of prisoners on release from custody Karen Rowlingson Time Newburn & Ann Hagell. The Howard Journal Vol. 36 no. 3 (August) 1997 pp293-304. This article based on in-depth interviews with convicted prisoners before and after release from prison, considers the adequacy of the discharge grant and finds it wanting.
Privatisation Stephen Nathan. The Prison Report Issue 39 (Summer) 1997 pp13-16. Round-up of news and views on prison privatisation.
Control in category C prisons Simon Marshall. Research Findings (Home Office Research and Statistics Directorate) No. 54 1997, pp4.
The sentencing of women Carl Hedderman & Lizanne Dowds. Research Findings (Home Office Research and Statistics Directorate) No. 58 1997 pp4. Noting that the results of this survey "raise as many questions as they answer" the authors' conclude that "The results of this large-scale study suggest the courts treat women differently from men sometimes by avoiding the use of custody, but more markedly in their reluctance to impose fines."
Prison Privatisation Report International Nos. 11 & 12 (June- July) 1997. Contains reports on Cornell Corrections Inc (Houston, Texas) and the inadequacies of the Corrections Corporation of Australia at the Metropolitan Women's prison. Also has a piece on UK Home Secretary Jack Straw's "reservations" about privately managed prisons - apparently not strong enough to halt the previous Tory government's building plans.
Special Security Units: Cruel Inhuman or degrading treatment. Amnesty International March 1997 (EUR 45/06/97) 9pp. This reports examines the SSUs at Whitemoor and Full Sutton prisons and the SSU for remand prisoners at Belmarsh. It notes that "The conditions...have led to serious physical and psychological disorders in prisoners [and] constitute cruel inhuman or degrading treatment."
Shattered lives Paul Donovan. Red Pepper No. 40 (September) 1997 pp18-19. This interesting piece examines the situation of victims of miscarriages of justice who are "abandoned by the system" when released from prison. Relatives of those released note that "the state refuses to acknowledge them" and call for an agency to deal with the aftermath.
Parliamentary debate
The Probation Service Lords 16.7.97. cols 1046-1074