Editorial
| Published date | 01 June 2002 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455050204900201 |
| Date | 01 June 2002 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
75
EDITORIAL
In March of this year the prison population finally exceeded the 70,000 mark. It has risen
by more than 5,000 over the last year, and the Prison Service is now perilously close to its
absolute capacity. This is despite a welcome shift away from the ‘prison works’rhetoric of
previous years, the earlier release of hundreds of prisoners as a result of the Home Detention
Curfew Scheme (HDC), and an unprecedented focus on the potential of more rigorous
community penalties to reduce custodial sentencing. Remarkably, this rise has also occurred
at a time when the overall crime rate is actually decreasing. Several of the articles in this
extended special edition help to throw light on this apparent paradox. For example, in its
exploration of the dynamics of penal expansion in the USA, Parole and Probation in a
Prison Nation considers potential lessons for the UK. In a fluent, reflective paper, the
author highlights the dangers of penal strategy driven more by the needs of local economies
(the prisons industry is one of America’s biggest employers) than an integrated strategy
focused on the goal of crime reduction.
In a similar vein, Women’s Imprisonment provides a conceptual framework for
understanding the limited long-term success of much prison reform. The author argues
compellingly that the fundamental nature of the prison should not be obscured by talk of
rehabilitation or self-improvement, which encourages sentencers to think that custody is a
positive option for reducing re-offending. Rather it should be portrayed starkly as: “a
place where punishment by confinement is forever aggravated by the inevitable pains of
regimes primarily, and necessarily, organised to keep prisoners in.” She stresses that clarity
of argument is crucial to encourage more funding and use of community penalties.
The Reflections piece on Home Detention Curfew unwittingly supports this analysis by
exposing the contradictions inherent in encouraging an institution which exists to contain
and control, to take calculated risks in releasing prisoners early. The author’s discussion
of the failure of HDC to significantly reduce prison overcrowding is particularly topical as
another policy change has just been announced to do just that: the ‘Presumptive Home
Detention Curfew’ is intended to ensure that more prisoners serving between three and
twelve months are released, unless there are ‘compelling reasons’ not to do so. It will
be interesting to see if this approach is any more successful.
Other papers in this edition concentrate more on the daily concerns of prisoners and prison
staff. Falling very squarely into this category is the Reflections piece Leading the
Development of Wandsworth Prison. This article gives a fascinating insight into the
challenges facing reforming governors working towards change in an often hostile and
always highly sensitive environment. An equally personal, but very different perspective is
provided by My Life As A Prisoner; in a moving and perceptive account, the author
describes her struggles with feelings of powerlessness and despair as she attempted to come
to terms with her loss of liberty.
All the articles in this edition are intended to help develop thought and understanding about
the place and operation of prison in a modern Criminal Justice System. It has not been
possible to mention every paper in this editorial. Similarly, because of the number and
quality of articles submitted, some of those originally accepted for this issue will instead
be published in future editions of the Journal. As ever, contributions (in the shape of letters
or articles) from practitioners, managers or academics who want to respond to any of the
issues raised in this edition are very welcome.
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