Monthly News Bulletin
Email Bulletin July 2012
WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO?
Go compare!
Compare Futures (www.comparefutures.org) is a new online comparison tool brought to you by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and the Nominet Trust. It lets you compare the vast range of life experiences and life chances facing 18-24 year olds across England. One example is the contrast between young people in Hull East (around 1 in 2,000 go to an elite university) and young people in Kensington (around 1 in 3 go to an elite university). The press release is here.
Media coverage included the Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and interviews on BBC Radio Four and BBC Radio Five Live.
Talking about violence and trauma
Roger Grimshaw, Research Director, presented to the annual Oral History Society conference on the My Story project which offered a unique insight into the severe and prolonged trauma experienced by many who have perpetrated serious violent acts when children. Read the original report here. At the conference Roger was struck by the moving stories of people fleeing persecution in the 1930s (www.refugeevoices.co.uk).
Teen knife crime
The Centre has been working with the Museum of Childhood's new exhibition display entitled `Teen Knife Crime'. The exhibition will be open from 14 July 2012 to July 2013. More details are here.
Downsizing criminal justice
We are busy publicising and preparing for the `Confronting penal excess' event on 13 September. To help build the coalition and get discussion flowing before and after the meeting we have just set up a new website. Over the coming weeks we'll be adding comments and blogs from a variety of contributors. To help us build content and register your interest please post your comments, ideas and support here.
Out on the town
The entire CCJS staff group visited Milton Keynes for a tete-a-tete with our colleagues at the Institute for Comparative Criminological Research (ICCCR) at the Open University. Will McMahon, Deputy Director of CCJS and Louise Westmarland, Director of the ICCCR met with Lord Toby Harris, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Policing to discuss ICCCR research on police integrity. Rebecca Roberts, Senior Associate and Will McMahon attended the Criminal Justice Alliance meeting where CJA Chair, Judge John Samuels (who also happens to be a CCJS trustee) spoke highly of Ken Loach's recent film `Angels Share' and in particular a scene focusing on RJ.
HAVE YOU SEEN?
Dazed and confused?
Many were left a little dazed by claims made in a recent report from Civitas looking at the relationship between crime rates, imprisonment and policing. CCJS director, Richard Garside, clarified things for us here (with well over 2,000 views last time we looked). Civitas then responded twice, one from a co-author of a different paper, the other by someone who is not listed as an author of either papers. Confused? You should be.
Top holiday reads
What will you be reading this summer? Look no further.... Here are the top 5 most cited Criminal Justice Matters articles. First place goes to Ian Loader and Richard Sparks on the public role of criminologists - downloadable here and at number 5, we have Todd Clear and Natasha Frost on the `rules of engagement' for criminology and criminal justice policy. These articles are free of charge and then for the small price of a CCJS membership or access via an academic institution, you can view, online - Barry Loveday on `Policing performance'; Tim Bateman on the myth of a girl crime wave; and Carole Hedderman and Mike Hough on probation reform. ENJOY!
Garside: government punch ups, prison escapes
Richard Garside was quoted in the Observer editorial (22/07/12) on the professionalization of the police, predicting that Theresa May is due to engage in `one of the biggest punch-ups in government'. Elsewhere Richard wrote an enlightening piece in the Guardian on the John Massey prison escape.
Nutt-cast...
At the start of the month David Nutt was interviewed by the Guardian in their weekly science podcast. Towards the end of the month he wrote in the Guardian (19/07/12) about how restrictions on the use of MDMA are holding back research into the drug's potential therapeutic effects.
Healthy prisons?
The July edition of Prison Service Journal, hosted on our website can be viewed here with a special focus on the concept of the `healthy' prison.
TAKE A LOOK AT THIS...
Profiting from punishment
Sadhbh Walshe comments in The Guardian on how rightwing lobbying companies in the US have used a loophole to exploit schemes to provide work experience (06/07/2012). Meanwhile, the Howard League have announced and published online the winners and runners up of their essay competition on the topic of prisons, profits and young people.
Banker bashing
Lynsey Hanley says that heaping blame on bankers misses the point. Rob Allen argues against moves to campaign for bangin' up bankers. Meanwhile, the Economist (21/07/12) reports that the economics of crime suggests that fines imposed by regulators should be much higher to deter corporate wrongdoing.
G4S, Serco and Jeremy Clarkson
A winning combination? Nic Groombridge writes on the Works for Freedom blog.
Fear factor
Charlotte Weinberg on Works for Freedom explains why an ex prisoner finds prison safer than a fastfood restaurant.
A sporting kind of violence?
A new domestic violence hub opens near the Olympic park (BBC, 24/07/12) and this report from End Violence Against Women highlights the links between sport and violence against women. Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph (23/07/12) published DPP, Keir Starmer's claim that nine in ten sex attacks go unreported.
Swift but not so sure?
The government's white paper `Swift and Sure Justice' will be speeding up the justice system by naming `offenders' online (!?), keeping courtrooms open longer and using video technology. It's all about better joint working between agencies, getting tough, breaking the cycle of reoffending, transparency, accountability blah blah blah. Heard it all before? You probably have. Daily Telegraph (13/07/12). The white paper is here.
IN THE NEWS...
Unemployed to have bottoms removed
It might not be proper news, but then what counts as news these days? We liked this story in the Daily Mash......
Illegal payments to prison officers
The Leveson Inquiry reveals payments have been made to prison officers in exchange for information. BBC News (23/07/12)
What a fraud
Public Finance magazine (23/07/12) covers the FraudTrack report, revealing that more than half of all fraud reported over the six months to May 2012 was committed against the public sector.
Is Britain behaving better?
Mark Easton at the BBC (19/07/12) reflects on crime stats and coverage of figures from the ONS showing that homicide is at its lowest rate for 30 years.
Chief inspector of prisons: `Disturbing'
The Guardian (19/07/12) reported that `warehouse' prisons are falling short of Clarke's rehabilitation pledge. Nick Hardwick, Chief Inspector of Prisons said "it was particularly disturbing." Read the quotes in context here.
NUMBER OF THE MONTH
£13 trillion - The estimated amount hidden globally from the taxman in offshore accounts according to reports in The Observer (21/07/12).TWEETS OF THE MONTH
@AndrewSimms_nef: Related? Government shifts focus to cash-in-hand tax dodging a day after £13 trillion scale of bank-led systemic offshore avoidance revealed
@TimNewburn: The madness of some management targets and the daftest bar chart? NOMS annual report Fig 1
@MichaelRosenYes: "Bob Diamond told me that if you give a man a gun, he can rob the bank, if you give a man a bank, he can rob the world."
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
We thought the opening of Ruth Levitas' recent article in Critical Social Policy was worth reproducing here.... She quotes 19th century Christopher Bowen QC....
The rain it raineth every day
Upon the just and unjust fella
But more upon the just because
The unjust stole the just's umbrella
For Levitas' full article on `Austerity and the Big Society in Coalition policy and beyond', visit the Critical Social Policy website (you'll need a subscription).