eBulletin, 30 April 2024
Our latest eBulletin, sent out subscribers on Tuesday, 30 April. Sign-up for our free eBulletins here.
‘You can’t be a “black man” in prison’
So said a prisoner called Kwaku, speaking to Dr Jason Warr about his experience of systemic racism in prison.
Kwaku, a Ghanian national facing deportation at the end of his sentence, despite having lived in the UK since he was three-years-old, had, as Jason Warr notes, ‘started shaving his head completely after the braids that he’d worn for years used to attract the “wrong” sort of attention from staff’.
The experiences of Kwaku, and a number of other black male lifer prisoners, are captured in an extraordinary article by Jason Warr in The British Journal of Criminology, called ‘Whitening Black Men’. The article, worthy winner of this year’s Radzinowicz Prize for the best article over the past year, captures with great insight and empathy the way black male prisoners learn to ‘whiten’ their ‘blackness’ to improve their chances of gaining release from prison.
I am delighted that Jason Warr has agreed to join us for a special event, discussing his research, and the wider challenges of research and effective policy and practice, on Wednesday, 12 June. More information in the bulletin below.
In other news, we are recruiting for two new members of staff, working across a broad range of policy, research and research activities. More on this below too. They are great roles for the right candidates. Please do spread the word, and send us an application if the job appeals.
Richard Garside
Director
Do you want to join our staff team?
We are looking for two new ‘policy and research officers’, to join our small and growing team. The roles will combine policy, research, communications, and programme support functions.
Those who have been following us for a while will know that we prize intellectual openness, and a willingness to engage with difficult questions and challenging ideas. So this is a great opportunity for those looking for a varied role in a unique organisation.
You can find all the details about these two exciting new posts on the CharityJobs website.
‘You can’t be a “Black Man” in prison’
The comment made by a prisoner, Kwaku, to award-winning researcher, Dr Jason Warr, forms the title of our latest event in the early evening of Wednesday, 12 June.
https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/event/2024-06-12/you-cant-be-black-ma...
Jason Warr will be talking about his research on how black male life sentence prisoners have to navigate through a system where staff and prisoners can see their very ‘blackness’ as a problem.
One prisoner, Tubs, told of how the only three black prisoners on one wing stuck together in the face of racism from staff and other prisoners, only to be assessed by staff as having an ‘increased risk of future offending’ due to being perceived as ‘ganged up’.
Another prisoner, Nipsy said he was told by a staff member that he came across as too ‘urban’ and that he should ‘stop speaking like a roadman’ to improve his chances of progressing through the system.
Alongside online attendance at this event, we are making a limited number of places available for in-person attendance.
Click here for more information and to book a place.
The British Journal of Criminology
Jason Warr’s research on black male life sentence prisoners has just won the prestigious Radzinowicz Prize, awarded annually for the best article in The British Journal of Criminology. Professor Eamonn Carrabine, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal, said that the article offered ‘a compelling analysis of the racialization at the heart of carceral logic’.
Find out more about Jason Warr’s article here.
And here’s a round-up of some of the new content in The British Journal of Criminology, published in the last month:
With the policing of drugs, and enforcement of drug laws a perennial policy concern:
- Hannah Marshall, Matthew Bacon and Jack Spicer, write on the policing of drug addiction, child criminal exploitation and ‘cuckooing’ in the UK.
- Rebekah McNeilly, Luca Berardi, Kevin D Haggerty, Sandra M Buceris and Harvey Krahn, examine shifting police attitudes towards safe drug consumption sites in Canada.
During the Covid-19 lockdown, there was much discussion about the unfairness of on-the-spot fines given to members of the public for breach of the rules. In a new article, Kate Murray, Susan McVie, Ben Matthews and Victoria Gorton find that these fines fell disproportionately on those least able to pay. They also consider the implications of their findings for the management of future pandemics.
Imprisonment for Public Protection
Regular readers of our bulletin will know that we have been working hard with campaigners and other organisations to press for meaningful reform to the IPP sentence.
Earlier this month, we hosted a private roundtable to take stock of what had been achieved, and what more needs to be done. Out of it came fresh ideas to press for the much needed resentencing of all those serving an IPP sentence, as well as some more immediate priorities related to the current parliamentary manoeuvres of the Victims and Prisoners Bill. Amendments to the Bill, aimed at reducing the risk that some released IPP prisoners will be recalled to prison following release, among other things, are being debated on 13 May.
If you like to get stuck into the detail of the parliamentary process, you can find more information here.
We have also been working to keep the issue of IPP reform in the spotlight. Our director, Richard, spoke to The Observer in the last few days. He pointed out that any legislation to resentence those under the IPP could include provisions to ensure they received support and supervision on release.
Meanwhile, our research director, Roger, wrote for Inside Time on the frustrating resistance, by both the Conservatives and Labour, to meaningful reform.
Other piece of media coverage, some of which we have helped to get published, including:
- An editorial in The Guardian, calling for Labour to commit to IPP reform.
- An article in The Guardian by Simon Hattenstone, detailing the heart-breaking story of Tommy Nicol.
- A piece in The Independent, based on comments by Baroness Fox, that ‘We shouldn’t wait until there’s an ITV drama before the injustice (of IPP) is dealt with’.
- An interview with the architect of the IPP sentence, Lord Blunkett, who describes it as his ‘biggest regret’.
- An interview with the new president of the Prison Governors’ Association, Tom Wheatley, describing IPP sentences as a ‘blot on our legal system’.
Commentary and analysis
In the fourth and final article in her short series of reflections, Katelyn Owens argues that the justice system should be a ‘turning point, rather than a turnstile’.
Rona Epstein writes about the scandal of prisoners dying through neglect.
News from our partners
Suresh Grover, from our friends The Monitoring Group, is one of the activists to feature in a new Channel Four documentary series – Defiance: Fighting the Far Right – on the history of British-Asian resistance to racist violence of the 1970s and 1980s. Speaking about his experiences, Suresh told The Independent, ‘I still have marks from where I was stabbed in my temple and legs. I’m still conscious of it. Even though things have changed, it was not long ago that I was called a “p***” on the street’. Recalling his time as a schoolboy in Lancashire, he said, ‘It was the era of “p***-bashing”. One Asian boy brought a penknife in to school because the teachers did nothing. It soon stopped’.
Watch Defiance: Fighting the Far Right, here.
Diary date correction
In our last bulletin, we wrote that our next AGM (members only) would be held on Tuesday, 14 May. We are now going to be holding it on Wednesday, 12 June. More details to follow in due course.
Apologies for any confusion.
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