Research Into Restorative Justice in Custodial Settings
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The Human Factor in Prison Design: Contrasting Prison Architecture in the United States and Scandinavia
The Human Factor in Prison Design: Contrasting Prison Architecture in the United States and Scandinavia Prison design is a controversial topic in the field of architecture. The “all- seeing” Panopticon prison of the eighteenth century introduced by British social reformer Jeremy Bentham brought academic attention to the issue of prison design. Two centuries later, French philosopher and social theorist Michel Foucault used the Panopticon as a metaphor for society and its power to control beyond the physical. MEGAN FOWLER In the United States, there are two penal and prison systems -- the Pennsylvania Iowa State University System and the Auburn System. The Pennsylvania penitentiary system was influ- enced by the idea of penitence; solitude was thought to serve as punishment as well as giving time for reflection and contrition. The prison designs often recall the Panopticon with centralized configurations. The opposing system is known as the Auburn System, after the eponymous facility in New York, where impris- onment was punishment instead of a chance for reformation. It was at Auburn where the core idea of total surveillance from Bentham’s Panopticon became a reality. The Auburn system and corresponding architecture have been described as “machine-like” where prisoners are kept in tiny cells under total control. Since the 19th century, the Auburn System has predominated prison design and theory in the United States.1 In American society today some resist involving architects in creating prison facilities. “Architecture” for these buildings is discouraged.2 The environments in American prisons create opportunities for violence, tension, and hostility in inmates.3 Even employees in American prisons have been found to have a higher risk of various stress-related health issues.4 In 2013, Pelican Bay super- max prison, with its “8x10-foot, soundproof, poured-concrete cells with remote controlled doors and no windows,” provoked hunger strikes across California in solidarity for the appalling living conditions. -
Findings from a Pilot Prison Yoga Program in Australia
IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X19854869International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyBartels et al. 854869research-article2019 Original Manuscript International Journal of Offender Therapy and “I Would Just Feel Really Comparative Criminology 1 –19 Relaxed and at Peace”: © The Author(s) 2019 Article reuse guidelines: Findings From a Pilot Prison sagepub.com/journals-permissions https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X19854869DOI: 10.1177/0306624X19854869 Yoga Program in Australia journals.sagepub.com/home/ijo Lorana Bartels1,2 , Lisa N. Oxman1, and Anthony Hopkins3 Abstract International research provides support for yoga as a well-being intervention in prison. No systematic research has been undertaken in Australia to assess the effectiveness of prison yoga programs. In 2017, the authors, in partnership with Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Corrective Services and the Yoga Foundation, introduced a weekly pilot yoga program at the ACT prison. This article presents quantitative and qualitative findings from the program. Although the small sample size (n = 8) is acknowledged, our findings indicate that participants attained statistically and clinically significant benefit from the program, demonstrated by improvements in their levels of depression, anxiety, self-esteem, goal-direction, negative affect, and non-acceptance. They also reported improved flexibility, sleep and relaxation, pain reduction, and identified improvements in their mental well-being, commenting that the program made them feel “calm” and “at peace.” The article -
The Little Book of Restorative Justice
The authors THE LITTLE BOOK OF oward Zehr directed the first victim offender conferencing program in the U.S. and is one H of the developers of restorative justice as a concept. His book Changing Lenses: A New Focus for Crime and Justice is considered a classic in the field. His other publications include Doing Life: Reflections of Men and Women Serving Life Sentences, Transcending: Reflections of Crime Victims and The Little Book of Restorative Justice. Forthcoming in fall, 2003, is The Little Book of Family Group Conferences, New Zealand Style (with Allan MacRae). Dr. Zehr is Co-Director of the graduate Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University. From this base he also teaches and practices in the field of restorative justice. Zehr received his M.A. from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. from Rutgers University. li Gohar worked as Additional Commissioner Social Welfare Cell for Afghan Refugees for A thirteen years. Presently working as Chief Executive, Just Peace International inc. for Afghanistan and Pakistan. Ali Gohar received his MSc in International Relations from Quaid-i-Azam university Islamabad . He completed his second Master in Conflict Transformation as a Fulbright Scholar from Eastern Mennonite University VA, USA. The Pushto, Urdu and Persian (Dari) version of the hand book by the same authors are under publications. [email protected] Ph: ++92 - 91 - 5700724 The authors THE LITTLE BOOK OF oward Zehr directed the first victim offender conferencing program in the U.S. and is one H of the developers of restorative justice as a concept. His book Changing Lenses: A New Focus for Crime and Justice is considered a classic in the field. -
Prison Abolition and Grounded Justice
Georgetown University Law Center Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW 2015 Prison Abolition and Grounded Justice Allegra M. McLeod Georgetown University Law Center, [email protected] This paper can be downloaded free of charge from: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/1490 http://ssrn.com/abstract=2625217 62 UCLA L. Rev. 1156-1239 (2015) This open-access article is brought to you by the Georgetown Law Library. Posted with permission of the author. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminal Procedure Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons Prison Abolition and Grounded Justice Allegra M. McLeod EVIEW R ABSTRACT This Article introduces to legal scholarship the first sustained discussion of prison LA LAW LA LAW C abolition and what I will call a “prison abolitionist ethic.” Prisons and punitive policing U produce tremendous brutality, violence, racial stratification, ideological rigidity, despair, and waste. Meanwhile, incarceration and prison-backed policing neither redress nor repair the very sorts of harms they are supposed to address—interpersonal violence, addiction, mental illness, and sexual abuse, among others. Yet despite persistent and increasing recognition of the deep problems that attend U.S. incarceration and prison- backed policing, criminal law scholarship has largely failed to consider how the goals of criminal law—principally deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation, and retributive justice—might be pursued by means entirely apart from criminal law enforcement. Abandoning prison-backed punishment and punitive policing remains generally unfathomable. This Article argues that the general reluctance to engage seriously an abolitionist framework represents a failure of moral, legal, and political imagination. -
Introductory Handbook on the Prevention of Recidivism and the Social Reintegration of Offenders
Introductory Handbook on The Prevention of Recidivism and the Social Reintegration of Offenders CRIMINAL JUSTICE HANDBOOK SERIES Cover photo: © Rafael Olivares, Dirección General de Centros Penales de El Salvador. UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME Vienna Introductory Handbook on the Prevention of Recidivism and the Social Reintegration of Offenders CRIMINAL JUSTICE HANDBOOK SERIES UNITED NATIONS Vienna, 2018 © United Nations, December 2018. All rights reserved. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Publishing production: English, Publishing and Library Section, United Nations Office at Vienna. Preface The first version of the Introductory Handbook on the Prevention of Recidivism and the Social Reintegration of Offenders, published in 2012, was prepared for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) by Vivienne Chin, Associate of the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, Canada, and Yvon Dandurand, crimi- nologist at the University of the Fraser Valley, Canada. The initial draft of the first version of the Handbook was reviewed and discussed during an expert group meeting held in Vienna on 16 and 17 November 2011.Valuable suggestions and contributions were made by the following experts at that meeting: Charles Robert Allen, Ibrahim Hasan Almarooqi, Sultan Mohamed Alniyadi, Tomris Atabay, Karin Bruckmüller, Elias Carranza, Elinor Wanyama Chemonges, Kimmett Edgar, Aida Escobar, Angela Evans, José Filho, Isabel Hight, Andrea King-Wessels, Rita Susana Maxera, Marina Menezes, Hugo Morales, Omar Nashabe, Michael Platzer, Roberto Santana, Guy Schmit, Victoria Sergeyeva, Zhang Xiaohua and Zhao Linna. -
Yoga in Correctional Settings: a Randomized Controlled Study
ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 16 October 2017 doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2017.00204 Yoga in Correctional Settings: A Randomized Controlled Study Nóra Kerekes1*, Cecilia Fielding2 and Susanne Apelqvist 2 1 Department of Health Sciences, University West, Trollhättan, Sweden, 2 R&E, Swedish Prison and Probation Services, Norrköping, Sweden Background: The effect of yoga in the reduction of depressive symptoms, anxiety, stress, anger as well as in the increased ability of behavioral control has been shown. These effects of yoga are highly relevant for prison inmates who often have poor mental health and low impulse control. While it has been shown that yoga and meditation can be effective in improving subjective well-being, mental health, and executive functioning within prison populations, only a limited number of studies have proved this, using ran- domized controlled settings. Methods: A total of 152 participants from nine Swedish correctional facilities were ran- domly assigned to a 10-week yoga group (one class a week; N = 77) or a control group (N = 75). Before and after the intervention period, participants answered questionnaires measuring stress, aggression, affective states, sleep quality, and psychological well- Edited by: being and completed a computerized test measuring attention and impulsivity. Cristina Scarpazza, Università degli Studi Results: After the intervention period, significant improvements were found on 13 of di Padova, Italy the 16 variables within the yoga group (e.g., less perceived stress, better sleep quality, Reviewed by: an increased psychological and emotional well-being, less aggressive, and antisocial Katherine Auty, behavior) and on two within the control group. Compared to the control group, yoga University of Cambridge, United Kingdom class participants reported significantly improved emotional well-being and less antiso- Nubia G. -
“An Open Prison Without End” WATCH Myanmar’S Mass Detention of Rohingya in Rakhine State
HUMAN RIGHTS “An Open Prison without End” WATCH Myanmar’s Mass Detention of Rohingya in Rakhine State “An Open Prison without End” Myanmar’s Mass Detention of Rohingya in Rakhine State Copyright © 2020 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 978-1-62313-8646 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people worldwide. We scrupulously investigate abuses, expose the facts widely, and pressure those with power to respect rights and secure justice. Human Rights Watch is an independent, international organization that works as part of a vibrant movement to uphold human dignity and advance the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org OCTOBER 2020 ISBN: 978-1-62313-8646 “An Open Prison without End” Myanmar’s Mass Detention of Rohingya in Rakhine State Maps ................................................................................................................................ i Table .............................................................................................................................. iii Summary ........................................................................................................................ -
Why Focus on Reducing Women's Imprisonment?
why women.qxp_Layout 1 03/02/2017 15:43 Page 1 Why focus on reducing women’s imprisonment? Prison Reform Trust briefing February 2017 Key points • The women’s prison population in England and Wales more than doubled between 1995 and 2010 - from under 2,000 women to over 4,000. The numbers have since declined by over 10% – from 4,279 women in April 2012 to 3,821 in April 2016. But the UK still has one of the highest rates of women’s imprisonment in Western Europe. • Women are a small minority of those in the criminal justice system, representing less than 5% of the prison population, and are easily overlooked in policy, planning, and services - they have been described as 'correctional afterthoughts'. • The drivers and patterns of women’s offending are generally different from men’s. • Most of the solutions to women’s offending lie in improved access to community based support services, including women’s centres. These enable women to address underlying problems which may lead to offending but which the criminal justice system cannot solve. • The impact of imprisonment on women, more than half of whom have themselves been victims of serious crime, is especially damaging and their outcomes are worse than men’s. • Most women have neither a home nor a job to go to on release. • Women are much more likely to be primary carers, with children far more directly affected by a prison sentence as a result. The real battle started when I got out. Everything - home, re-establishing relationships, job. Imprisonment just exploded a bomb into every aspect of my life.. -
NO WAY out a Briefing Paper on Foreign National Women in Prison in England and Wales January 2012
NoWayOut_Layout109/01/201212:11Page1 NO WAY OUT A briefing paper on foreign national women in prison in England and Wales January 2012 1. Introduction Foreign national women, many of whom are known to have been trafficked or coerced into offending, represent around one in seven of all the women held in custody in England and Wales. Yet comparatively little information has been produced about these women, their particular circumstances and needs, the offences for which they have been imprisoned and about ways to respond to them justly and effectively. This Prison Reform Trust briefing, drawing on the experience and work of the charity FPWP Hibiscus, the Female Prisoners Welfare Project, and kindly supported by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, sets out to redress the balance and to offer findings and recommendations which could be used to inform a much-needed national strategy for the management of foreign national women in the justice system. An overarching recommendation of Baroness Corston’s report published in 2007 was the need to reduce the number of women in custody, stating that “custodial sentences for women must be reserved for serious and violent offenders who pose a threat to the public”. She included foreign national women in her report, seeing them as: A significant minority group who have distinct needs and for whom a distinct strategy is 1 necessary. NoWayOut_Layout109/01/201212:11Page2 However, when the government response2 and This comes at a time when an increasing then the National Service Framework for percentage of foreign women, who come to the Improving Services to Women Offenders were attention of the criminal justice and immigration published the following year, there were no systems and who end up in custody, have been references to this group.3 living in the UK long enough for their children to consider this country as home. -
How Restorative Is Restorative Justice?
How restorative is restorative justice? Dr Martin Wright Visiting Research Fellow, School of Legal Studies, University of Sussex. Paper to conference, Quali prospettive per la mediazione? Riflessioni teoretiche ed esperienze operative (What prospects for mediation? theoretical reflections and practice), Museo Criminologico, Rome, 20-21 April 2001. There are certain things which we take for granted: 1) that crime is an offence against the state 2) that people who commit crimes should be punished 3) that punishment is a responsibility and a monopoly of the state 4) that the decisions about how to deal with offenders should be taken by state officials through a formal legal process. What is remarkable about RJ is that it challenges all these assumptions: it views crime not as an offence against the State but as an injury to people and relationships. Instead of punishing offenders, justice involves repairing harm caused by crime. The victim and the offender can take an active part in the process. The community can support the victim and help the offender to fulfil any agreement he has made about reparation. In the conventional system the victim and the offender are not able to tell the story of what happened in their own way, much less to communicate with each other. The damaging potential of the system is well known. It is aggravated by the fact that the system focuses on its objective - to determine guilt or innocence and decide on a sanction - and does not consider the effect of the process on the participants. Restorative justice, instead of taking the whole matter out of their hands, offers both victim and offender the chance to discuss it and decide how to resolve it, through victim/offender mediation, or an extension of this known as ‘conferencing’, in which victims and offenders are invited to include their extended families. -
Restorative Justice in Prisons: Methods, Approaches and Effectiveness
Strasbourg, 29 September 2014 PC-CP (2014) 17 rev PC-CP\docs 2014\PC-CP(2014)17e rev EUROPEAN COMMITTEE ON CRIME PROBLEMS (CDPC) Council for Penological Co-operation (PC-CP) Restorative Justice in Prisons: Methods, Approaches and Effectiveness Document prepared by Gerry JOHNSTONE Professor of Law, Law School, University of Hull, United Kingdom Introduction Imprisonment of offenders is a central and seemingly indispensable part of the raft of methods used to respond to crime in contemporary societies. Whereas in dealing with other problems, such as mental disorder, modern societies have pursued policies of decarceration – relying less upon control in institutions, more upon care and control in the community – in responding to crime these societies are making increasing use of imprisonment. Walmsley (2013) estimates that, throughout the world, 10.2 million people are held in penal institutions and that prison populations are growing in all five continents at a faster rate than the general population. For the public at large, this raises little concern; indeed, there is much public support for high custody rates and for lengthy prison sentences for those who commit violent and sexual offences (Roberts, 2008). But for penal reformers and most criminologists this is a regressive trend: society is increasing its use of an outdated penal method which is ineffective (in either deterring crime or preparing offenders for life in the community upon release), inhumane, and very expensive.i Critics of imprisonment argue both for a significant reduction in its use and for the reform of prison conditions to render the practice more constructive and civilised. -
CAPPTIVE3.Qxp Layout 1 15/01/2021 10:43 Page 1
CAPPTIVE3.qxp_Layout 1 15/01/2021 10:43 Page 1 CAPPTIVE Covid-19 Action Prisons Project: Tracking Innovation, Valuing Experience How prisons are responding to Covid-19 Briefing #3 The prison service’s response, precautions, routine health care, disabilities, well- being, mental health, self-harm, and what helped CAPPTIVE3.qxp_Layout 1 15/01/2021 10:43 Page 2 About the Prison Reform Trust The Prison Reform Trust is an independent UK charity working to create a just, humane and effective prison system. For further information about the Prison Reform Trust, see www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/ About the Prisoner Policy Network The Prisoner Policy Network (PPN) is a network of prisoners, ex-prisoners and supporting organisations. It is hosted by the Prison Reform Trust and will make sure prisoners’ experiences are part of prison policy development nationally. Contact [email protected] or call 020 7251 5070 for more information. Acknowledgements Thank you to all of the people in prison that we spoke to including our PPN members who once again have gone above and beyond, making sure that not only are their voices heard in this discussion but that many other voices are included too. We are also grateful to prisoners’ families for their input. Thanks also go to our PPN advisory group, friends, colleagues and others who have offered comment on early drafts or helped to proofread before publication. © 2021 Prison Reform Trust ISBN: 978-1-908504-78-4 Cover photo credit: Erika Flowers [email protected] Printed by Conquest Litho CAPPTIVE3.qxp_Layout 1 15/01/2021 10:43 Page 3 Contents Introduction i Executive Summary iii 1.