Covid-19 in custody: responding to pandemics in prisons in england and wales
Articles
Nathan Monk
| Published | 21/05/2020 |
| Type | Article |
| Author(s) | Dr Christopher Kay |
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Abstract
COVID-19 was first detected in the prison estate in England and Wales in March 2020 and spread rapidly amongst prisoners and staff. Several policy initiatives were introduced in an attempt to improve the ability to carry out social distancing within the prison estate, reduce the transmission of the disease within prisons and manage cases as they arose. Policies which involved the temporary release of prisoners, increasing accommodation levels within the estate and the cohorting of prisoners presenting with symptoms were all introduced in an attempt to mitigate the impact of the disease. These policies were neither effective nor implemented in a timely manner, and the delay risked increasing the spread of the disease throughout the prison estate. Drawing upon evidence from both public health and social policy research, the following commentary discusses the impact of COVID-19 within the prison estate, and the effects of a policy approach that lacked timeliness and action, on the effective management of pandemics in prison.
COVID-19, Command Mode and Contact
Nathan Monk
| Published | 25/06/2020 |
| Author(s) | Laura Frampton |
Laura Frampton – Head of Service, HMP Thameside.
In line with COVID-19 government guidelines, I am considered a key worker and as such, people dutifully clap for my colleagues and I every Thursday at 8pm. I work for a third sector organisation, Catch22, as Head of Service at HMP Thameside, a category B local resettlement prison, operated by Serco – the only London based Contracted Prison. As Head of Service, I am responsible for leading on the development and delivery of Catch22 Offender Management Unit (OMU), where my focus is usually on contract management, performance monitoring and business development.
My role as Head of Service during a global pandemic is almost unrecognisable from what it once was. Whilst previously I was focused on contract management, performance monitoring and business development. I now try to oversee effective service delivery whilst in business contingency mode, to keep my staff safe and maintain compliance with our contract without being able to have direct prisoner contact. Trying to manage a prison based service in an establishment that is in command mode (which means it is in complete lockdown, with the regime stopped), whilst simultaneously trying to enhance our capacity to work remotely has been the task that has dominated my working hours of late. All of the usual expectations from our key stakeholder remain, and the pressure to strike the correct balance has been tangible. With the premature and tragic passing of one of our Serco colleagues serving as a stark reminder that there is absolutely no room for complacency.
If you had asked me before we entered command mode at HMP Thameside, whether it was possible for us to deliver offender management services remotely, I would have said no. How could we effectively deliver a service user facing role, without having face to face contact with service users? Well, lockdown set in, command mode was ordered nationally by the Government, and locally by the Director at HMP Thameside, and I had reduced the number of our staff reporting to the prison by 50% (with 50% working on innovation projects from home) to ensure their safety. Quickly, I was able to see that thanks to the resilience and professionalism of my team, and the provision of excellent in-cell technology by Serco, some resemblance of normal service could exist, even under such unbelievable circumstances. The in-cell technology provision at HMP Thameside is fantastic, each cell has an in-cell telephone and an in-cell computer installed. With focus and determination, we utilised the in-cell telephony to contact service users from inside the prison, to ensure that every prisoner had their basic needs screened within 72 hours of arriving in the prison. Unsurprisingly, we found a number of service users were experiencing feelings of boredom and isolation, so despite our restricted movements around the prison, we have continued to respond quickly and decisively where we have identified vulnerabilities such as physical and /or mental health issues.
I wanted us to be both proactive, as well as reactive, when supporting frustrated service users, ensuring we maintained good levels of contact with prisoners. With colleagues having increased time at home, we have been able to create numerous interventions that are delivered in cell. Using the internal post, as well as the prisoner Custodial Management System (CMS), we have been able to provide both distraction packs (which include activities such as word searches and colouring sheets) as well as offence focused interventions. Thus, allowing service users to demonstrate some progression through their sentence and that they are working towards their sentence plan objectives, despite the lack of availability of the usual out of cell interventions.
Throughout this time, we have continued to utilise the fantastic in-cell technology provided by Serco, meaning we can keep in touch with our service users both on the phone and via electronic messaging on CMS. And perhaps more importantly, thanks to this technology, the prisoners can reach out to us and have been doing so in droves. Being adaptable, innovative and responsive has served us well in this time; but so has the investment that was made in the installation (and ongoing maintenance!) of in-cell technology which has allowed us to remain present and contactable even in the most challenging circumstances.
Being in contact with service users is the foundation upon which our service delivery is based. It is how we build rapport, undertake meaningful work and also assess risk. Having a set of circumstances that has threatened this so aggressively and actively has been shocking. The aggressive virus has been matched in strength by the drive and determination of my colleagues to ensure prisoner safety, decency and public protection; some have paid the ultimate price in their quest. So please, keep clapping for them and all of us positioned firmly, on the front line.
Laura Frampton
Head of Service
HMP Thameside
Find me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-frampton-a73560184/
How to write your Covid-19 blog
Nathan Monk
| Published | 18/05/2020 |
| Author(s) | Kevin Wong, Jean Hine |
If you want to write about your experiences. Here is our how to guide.
Length
Your blog doesn’t have to be long, between 600 to 800 words. This guidance is around 230 words.
Structure
You may want to structure it in the following way:
If you are a practitioner:
Describe briefly what kind of service and/or organisation you work for.
Tell us about the problem and challenge. We suggest you focus on one thing.
Tell us how you solved it.
If you are a service user:
Tell us about your situation.
Tell us the problems you are facing.
Tell us how you are managing to cope, what’s helping and what’s not helping
Advice and guidance
Once you have sent us your blog one of our article editors will review it for you and will provide you with advice, to help you shape your piece so that you can get your message across in the best way.
Ones we made earlier
To have a look at blogs that we’ve published previously click here.
How to submit your blog
If you would like to submit a blog or discuss an idea (for a blog) contact us at bjcj@mmu.ac.uk
We look forward to receiving your submissions. In the meantime stay safe and well.
On behalf of the editorial board
Kevin Wong and Jean Hine (Co-editors)
Women’s needs on probation, should be, but are not being addressed…
Nathan Monk
| Published | 07/02/2020 |
| Author(s) | Rachel Goldhill |
Read the journal article corresponding to this blog: CHALLENGES OF GENDER-RESPONSIVITY IN PROBATION WORK WITH WOMEN SERVICE USERS
In the article for the BJCJ, “Challenges of gender-responsivity in probation work”, I report on findings from my PhD research (2011-2015), examining the supervision of women probationers in England. My research took place during a period of substantial change and uncertainty in the probation service, prior to and during the implementation process (January 2014 to February 2015) of Transforming Rehabilitation (TR). Included is a focus on Corston’s (2007) recommendations and subsequent guidance documents which argue (not for the first time) that women in the criminal justice system (CJS) have different and more complex needs to men which should be, but are not, being addressed.
Videoing supervision sessions
Through the videoing of supervision sessions and interviews with probation workers and women probationers my research explored whether practitioners are aware of and valued gender-responsiveness within the supervision process. Gender-responsivity is particularly relevant because of the widely acknowledged extensive victimisation and subsequent trauma experienced by women probationers and prisoners. It seems that even where practitioners are aware and committed to a gender-responsive approach, they find themselves compromised by organisational barriers.
Key areas for consideration
A number of areas are examined in the article to gauge practitioners’ awareness of issues surrounding gender:
- probation workers’ knowledge of relevant guidance documents following on from Corston’s review
- how positive officer/service user relationships can be established, maintained and concluded
- whether holistic ways of working are being incorporated
- how women-only groupwork is enabled
how safe all-women environments are facilitated both within probation offices and outside in the courts and within the voluntary sector.
The challenges for probation work with women
As might be expected in a large organisation there is a range of responses from workers, with some passionate about their work with women and others displaying less interest, not necessarily in the individual but weighed down by structural constraints such as the emphasis on risk and heavy caseloads. I am arguing that a common pattern of probation work with women involves short-term (often helpful) initiatives which survive on a shoestring, championed by a person (or people) at field level or in senior management (so it is the equivalent of an organisational post-code lottery). When these ‘champions’ move on, leaving the agency or changing role, the project disappears because budgets and support are withdrawn.
Privatisation – no steps forward, several steps back?
At the start of this research study in 2011 (pre-TR), notable positive attempts were being made to put Corston’s gender-responsive drive into action. By the end of the research period, as TR became established, these initiatives disappeared, shrank, or were re-defined in a punitive direction. The privatisation focus brought with it further cuts to funding both in society generally and within the CJS, meaning that interest in and adherence to women’s issues took several steps backwards. I am suggesting that approaches aiming to confront the complexities in women probationers’ lives appear incompatible with both societal and probation institutional male dominated discourses, practically restraining and emotionally frustrating practitioners in this area of their work.
Methodological challenges and lessons in surveying organisations
Nathan Monk
| Published | 07/02/2020 |
| Author(s) | Coral Sirdifield, David Denney, Dr Rebecca Marples, Charlie Brooker |
Read the journal article corresponding to this blog: RESEARCHING HEALTHCARE AVAILABILITY FOR PROBATION CLIENTS: AN ILLUSTRATION OF METHODOLOGICAL CHALLENGES AND LESSONS IN SURVEYING ORGANISATIONS
Critical reflection on methodological strategies
When designing any research project, it is important to have a good understanding of the existing literature to inform project design. Additionally, an important part of the research process is to reflect on any improvements that could have been achieved if the research had been conducted differently. Literature (this could be specified and we could hyperlink) that exposes the bones of the research process provides useful learning material for those wishing to design and conduct high quality research. We provide an illustrative example of some of the challenges that we encountered in a project attempting to survey a large number and variety of health and criminal justice organisations. Through critical reflection, we consider which methodological strategies might best improve engagement with such research in the future.
Probation Healthcare Commissioning Toolkit
Part of our project was focused on mapping healthcare for people on probation across England using national surveys of six types of organisation. We also developed a toolkit for commissioners and practitioners to improve healthcare provision for people on probation, which is available at probhct.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk.
Recommendations?
In the article, we detail recommendations from the existing literature, and our experience of trying to follow them. Key themes that we identified in the literature are: gatekeepers; resources, organisational culture and responsibilities; and organisational change. We illustrate the difficulties involved in trying to engage organisations that are subject to constant change as a result of policy decisions and budget cuts. We explore the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to engaging organisations in research, including the use of Freedom of Information Act requests as an element of a recruitment strategy. We make recommendations about potential ways of optimising engagement in future research.
CALL FOR PAPERS: Making a restorative criminal justice system a reality
Articles
Nathan Monk
| Published | 29/11/2019 |
| Type | Rapid Communication |
| Author(s) | Kevin Wong |
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Since our very first issue, the British Journal of Community Justice has sought to examine the potential for restorative practice to be applied to the criminal justice system.
Guy Master’s paper, published in Issue 1:1, was written while he was a post-doctoral researcher at the Centre for Restorative Justice, Australian National University. At the time he was on leave from his post as Referral Order Manager at the Essex Family Group Conferencing Service. Guy’s paper reflected on the involvement of victims of youth crime in restorative processes
Our most recent contribution has been Paul Gavin and Muna Sabbagh’s paper on Developing community courts with restorative justice in Ireland published in our most recent issue .
Perhaps it is indicative of the level of awareness of restorative justice (RJ) among criminal justice practitioners and policymakers in the United Kingdom (UK) and other jurisdictions that the RJ acronym generally sparks instant recognition.
However, the extent to which the criminal justice system in the constituent parts of the UK and in other jurisdictions have embraced RJ to the point where any such system could be described as restorative is perhaps an ambition that is still yet to be realised.
In a challenge to practitioners, policy makers and researchers, Shadd Maruna (2016:290) called on restorative justice and desistance theory – the two ‘hot topics’ of criminology over the last few decades to “…live up to their promise (some would say ‘hype’)” of challenging mainstream criminal justice.
Joining forces with the Criminal Justice Alliance – a coalition of over 150 organisations committed to improving the criminal justice system in England and Wales, working across policing, prison and probation – we invite submissions from academics, practitioners and policy makers on the theme of Making a restorative criminal justice system a reality.
For this special issue our focus encompasses restorative justice and broader restorative practices & approaches, i.e. looking beyond just traditional RJ conferencing.
We are particularly (but not exclusively) interested in: the challenges of translating RJ into practice; the discourse around RJ adequately (or not) addressing the needs of victims as well as people with convictions; and the application of RJ to all offence types or only certain offences.
In particular, we invite submissions from early career researchers and from international colleagues, in jurisdictions outside the UK where RJ practice may be further developed or where RJ practice may just be taking off.
There is much that we can all learn from how RJ is being applied in different policy and practice contexts.
Our timetable for publishing this special issue is:
Deadline for abstracts and expressions of interest in writing for the special issue: 10th January 2020
Deadline for submissions – 31st March 2020
Publication – June 2020
The journal’s editorial board and the Alliance look forward with interest to receiving your submissions.
If you would like to submit a paper or discuss an idea for a paper please contact us at bjcj@mmu.ac.uk
Please note that papers should be no longer than 7,000 words (including references but excluding the abstract).
References
Maruna, S. (2016) Desistance and restorative justice: it’s now or never, Restorative Justice, 4:3, 289-301, DOI: 10.1080/20504721.2016.1243853
Editorial Comment: Paul Senior – Last Words
Articles
Nathan Monk
| Published | 20/11/2019 |
| Type | Editorial Comment |
| Author(s) | Kevin Wong |
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The Truth about the Children’s Care System, the Links Between Care and Custody and the Role of Alcohol in Child Neglect
Articles
Nathan Monk
| Published | 20/11/2019 |
| Type | Article |
| Author(s) | Sir Martin Narey |
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The probation service in England and Wales has undergone massive change during the late 20th and early 21st centuries to become a National Service. This paper examines the wider social and political contexts in which such change has occurred. The reconfiguration of probation is argued to reflect the transition from a society governed through a political rationality of welfarism to one reflecting the tenets of neo-liberalism. A key shift has been in the massive purchase made in the service by managerial strategies and tactics which have been legitimated by their incorporation of the “What Works” research findings into the role of management. Such findings are argued to be provisional rather than universally applicable principles, and the meta-analyses from which they are derived are discussed in terms of their shortcomings and tendency to collapse rather than extract, detail. The “What Works” principles have been used as a mechanism to effect change in a service that hitherto had resisted various incursions by elements of the New Public Management. The key principles of effectiveness are depicted as being resonant with the notion of the rational-choice actor which provides the core model of individual behaviour within neo-liberal politics and which marks a disjunction with probation’s older association with issues of social justice and disadvantage
Developing Community Courts with Restorative Justice in Ireland
Articles
Nathan Monk
| Published | 20/11/2019 |
| Type | Article |
| Author(s) | Dr Paul Gavin, Dr Muna Sabbagh |
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In 2007 the Irish National Crime Council recommended that community courts should be established in Ireland, located in the inner city of Dublin, to deal with quality-of-life offences. In 2009 the final report of the National Commission on Restorative Justice recommended that restorative justice be legislated for, and introduced nationally in the criminal justice system in Ireland, by no later than 2015. Now, in 2019, we are still awaiting the introduction of community courts and the national rollout of restorative justice. Some progress, however, has been made in both areas. In 2014 the Minister for Justice announced that a pilot scheme would be established in Dublin, through which a community court would be established. Close monitoring and evaluation would determine whether community courts should then be rolled out on a national level. Several restorative justice schemes around the country have been expanded since the publication of the final report of the National Commission on Restorative Justice (2009), and a small but dedicated restorative justice movement is developing in Ireland. This paper argues that the rollout of restorative justice should coincide with the development and rollout of community courts in Ireland, and that community courts should contain an element of restorative justice. It also argues that the recent expansion of restorative justice schemes should be allowed to continue independently of the development of community courts in order to help facilitate a national rollout of restorative justice in the Irish criminal justice system.
Editorial (Volume 16, Issue 1)
Articles
Nathan Monk
Reflecting on the findings and recommendations of the MacPherson report, this is the first of a two-part special issue which examines the processes of hate crime (the term now used to include all crime motivated or aggravated by prejudice, not just racism) from the perspectives of victims, victim services, the criminal justice system and perpetrators.
Latest Issue
‘I LOVE WHAT THE JOB SHOULD BE’: CHALLENGES FACED BY PROBATION OFFICERS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO STAFF ATTRITION IN THE PROBATION SERVICE
11 February 2025