The Academy

The main peer reviewed academic journals which cover prisons and punishment are:

• The American Journal of Criminal Justice: http://www.scja.net/journal.html
• The British Journal of Criminology: http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/
• Criminal Justice Studies: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/gjup20/current#.Uz6oXLFwbcs
• Criminology and Criminal Justice: http://crj.sagepub.com/
• ·Criminology and Public Policy: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1745-9133
• The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1468-2311/issues
• Punishment and Society: http://pun.sagepub.com/
• Theoretical Criminology: http://tcr.sagepub.com/

Two academic penologists who publish up to date blogs on penological issues are:

• The English academic John Lea: http://www.bunker8.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
•  And the American academic Jonathan Simon: http://governingthroughcrime.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Official Reports and Statistics

The public archive of the United Kingdom Government, including the UK Government web archive, holds historical records including official reports on law, imprisonment and justice. It is available at:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

Up to date official statistics and reports on prisons and punishment are available from

• the UK Parliament website: http://www.parliament.uk/
• and the Ministry of Justice website: https://www.justice.gov.uk/

It is also worth looking at the website of the Parliamentary committees, the Home Affairs Select Committee and the House of Commons Justice Committee, both of which regularly inquire into penal affairs. Details of inquiries and publications by parliamentary committees are available at:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/

 

The Liberal Penal Lobby

Penal reform organisations which publish regular reports and statistics on prisons and punishment include:

• The Howard League for Penal Reform: http://www.howardleague.org/
• The Prison Reform Trust: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/
• Penal Reform International: http://www.penalreform.org/
• The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies: http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/

 

The Radical Penal Lobby

Other groups which lobby actively for change by campaigning on singular issues include:

• INQUEST: http://www.inquest.org.uk/
• Women in Prison: http://www.womeninprison.org.uk/
• The Reclaim Justice Network: http://downsizingcriminaljustice.wordpress.com/

 

The Conservative Penal Lobby

Conservative right wing ‘think tanks’ which have published reports on prisons and punishment include: 

• The Adam Smith Institute: http://www.adamsmith.org/
• The Institute of Economic Affairs: http://www.iea.org.uk/
•  The Institute for the Study of Civil Society (Civitas): http://www.civitas.org.uk/
• Reform: http://www.reform.co.uk/
• The Policy Exchange: http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/

 

The Staff Unions

Finally, staff unions within the penal system which publish on issues and developments relevant to the interests of their members are:

• The Prison Officers Association: http://www.poauk.org.uk/index.php?home
• The Prison Governors Association: http://prison-governors-association.org.uk/
• The National Association of Probation Officers: https://www.napo.org.uk/

Useful ‘pen’ descriptions of the work and ideas of key penal theorists and writers are:

• Emile Durkheim, available at: http://www.iep.utm.edu/durkheim/
• Michel Foucault at: http://www.iep.utm.edu/foucault/
• Jeremy Bentham at: http://www.iep.utm.edu/bentham/
• Cesare Beccaria at: http://www.iep.utm.edu/beccaria/
• Emmanuel Kant at: http://www.iep.utm.edu/kantmeta/
• Max Weber at: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/weber/

Also, a description of the influence of the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels on theories of prison and punishment is provided by John Lea at: http://www.bunker8.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/misc/MarxEngelsCrim.html

A research and teaching centre founded on the work and ideas of Zygmunt Bauman can be found at: http://baumaninstitute.leeds.ac.uk/

And information on the work of the Norbert Elias Foundation is available at: http://www.norberteliasfoundation.nl/

A number of organisations report on international developments on prisons and punishment. They include:

• The Global Prisons Research Network: https://sites.google.com/site/gprnnetwork/home
• The European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control: http://www.europeangroup.org/
• The International Centre for Prison Studies: http://www.prisonstudies.org/
• Amnesty International: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/
• Penal Reform International: http://www.penalreform.org/
• Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/
• State Watch, Monitoring the State and Civil Liberties in Europe: http://www.statewatch.org/

In addition, a National Audit Office (NAO) briefing paper: Comparing International Criminal Justice Systems is available at: http://www.nao.org.uk/report/nao-briefing-comparing-international-criminal-justice-systems/

Another paper you might find useful is Allen, R.  (2012) Reducing the Use of Imprisonment: What Can We Learn from Europe. London: Criminal Justice Alliance. Available at: http://www.criminaljusticealliance.org/CJA_ReducingImprisonment_Europe.pdf

And the World Population Brief, published by the International Centre for Prison Studies, is available at: http://www.prisonstudies.org/world-prison-brief

John Lea’s blog provides a full lecture sequence of the history of crime and punishment. It is available at: http://www.bunker8.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/history/SO827.htm

The Howard League for Penal Reform also provides a brief history of the prison system in England, available at: http://www.howardleague.org/history-of-prison-system/

UK Government websites providing corporate content and information on penal policy and practice include: 

• The website of the Ministry of Justice, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/welcome-to-the-new-home-on-the-web-fo...
• The website of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/national-offender-management-service
• The NOMS Business Plan 2012-2013 is available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/noms/2012/noms-business-plan-2012-2013.pdf
• The NOMS Annual Report and Accounts 2012-13 are available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/noms/2013/noms-anuual-report-accounts-2012-13.pdf
•  A document, How the National Offender Management Service works. January 2013 is available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/about/noms/noms-org-chart.pdf
• The website of HM Prison Service, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-prison-service
• The website of the Youth Justice Board, available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/about/yjb
• The Scottish Prison Service  Corporate Plan 2012-15 is available at: http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sps.gov.uk%2Fnmsruntime%2Fsaveasdialog.aspx%3FfileName%3DSPS%2520Corporate%2520Plan%25202012%2520-%2520154192_920.pdf&ei=RiNaU8DCLrTH7AbIvYAQ&usg=AFQjCNFsDmtFKAPOKRdSXMcfKHoMuAWcSQ
• The website of the Northern Ireland Prison Service, available at: http://www.dojni.gov.uk/index/ni-prison-service.htm
• The Business Plan 2013-14 and the Corporate Plan 2011-15 of the Northern Ireland Prison Service is available at: http://www.dojni.gov.uk/index/ni-prison-service/nips-publications/corporate-documents/annual-reports-and-business-plans/ni_prison_service_corporate_plan_2011-2015_and_business_plan_2013-14.pdf

Key Government papers, reports, consultation papers and inquiries which have influenced penal policy over recent years include: 

• A Review of the Criminal Courts of England and Wales by The Right Honourable Lord Justice Auld September 2001, available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.criminal-courts-review.org.uk/
• The Halliday Report, Making Punishment Work, Report of a Review of the Sentencing Framework for England and Wales 2001 is available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/halliday-report-sppu/chap-1-2-halliday2835.pdf?view=Binary
• Reducing Re-offending by Ex-prisoners, Report by the Social Exclusion Unit 2002, is available at: http://www.nobars.org.au/downloads/Reducing-Reoffending-Report.pdf
• The Government White Paper, Justice For All: Reducing Crime and Securing Justice 2002, available at: http://www.cps.gov.uk/publications/docs/jfawhitepaper.pdf
• The Carter Report, Managing Offenders, Reducing Crime 2003 and the Government Response, Reducing Crime, Changing Lives 2004, available at: http://www.cjp.org.uk/publications/archive/reducing-crime-changing-lives-the-carter-review-and-government-response-06-01-2004/
• The consultation document Breaking the Cycle: Effective Punishment, Rehabilitation and Sentencing of Offenders 2010 and the Government response 2011, available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20111121205348/http:/www.justice.gov.uk/consultations/consultation-040311.htm

Finally, the independent report Do Better Do Less: The Report of the Commission on English Prisons Today, set up by the Howard League for Penal Reform, is available at: http://www.prisoncommission.org.uk/

Official statistics and reports on prison administration and prisoner populations are available from the Ministry of Justice. They include

• Criminal Justice Statistics, Quarterly Update to December 2010, Ministry of Justice Statistics bulletin, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/217704/criminal-stats-quarterly-dec10.pdf
• Prison Population Figures for 2013, Ministry of Justice, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-population-figures
• Story of the Prison Population: 1993 – 2012 England and Wales, Ministry of Justice: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/218185/story-prison-population.pdf
• Prison Population Projections 2012-2018 England and Wales, Ministry of Justice Statistical Bulletin, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/218323/prison-pop-projections-2012-18.pdf
• Offender Management Statistics, Quarterly, Updated January 2014, Ministry of Justice, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly
• 2012 Compendium of Re-offending Statistics and Analysis, Ministry of Justice Statistics Bulletin, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/278126/2012-compendium-reoffending-stats-analysis.pdf

The Office for National Statistics also provides information on prison administration and prisoner populations at the UK National Statistics Publication Hub, prisons, available at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/crime-justice/offenders/prison/index.html

The Howard League for Penal Reform publishes a regular statistical update on prison overcrowding, available at http://www.howardleague.org/weekly-prison-watch/

And the Prison Reform Trust publishes regular updates on prisons generally. See Prison: The Facts, Prison Reform Trust Bromley Briefing, summer 2013, available at: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Prisonthefacts.pdf

Information on race relations in prisons is available in the following publications:

• Parallel worlds, A thematic review of race relations in prisons, December 2005, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/inspectorate-reports/hmipris/thematic-reports-and-research-publications/parallelworlds-rps.pdf
• The Zahid Mubarek Inquiry 2006, The Honourable Mr Justice Keith, available at:  https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/231789/1082.pdf
• Race Review 2008, Implementing Race Equality in Prisons – Five Years On, Ministry of Justice, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/294157/1000439crace_review_part_1.pdf
• Race Review 2008, Implementing Race Equality in Prisons – Five Years On, Ministry of Justice, part 2, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/294158/1000439drace_review_part_2.pdf

Information on foreign national prisoners is available in: Foreign National Prisoners, Issues Raised in Annual Reports to the Secretary of State By Independent Monitoring Boards in Prisons in England & Wales, National Council of the Independent Monitoring Boards 2012, available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/about/imb/foreign-national-prisoners.pdf

Information on women in prison is available in the following recent publications:

• A report by Baroness Jean Corston of a review of women with particular vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system, The Corston Report 2007, available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/corston-report-march-2007.pdf
• Women Offenders After The Corston Report: Second Report of Session 2013-14, House of Commons Justice Committee, available at: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/justice-committee/news/women-offenders-report-published/

Information on remand prisoners is available in Remand prisoners, A thematic review, HM Inspectorate of Prisons 2012, available at: https://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/inspectorate-reports/hmipris/thematic-reports-and-research-publications/remand-thematic.pdf

Information on the mental health of prisoners is available in the following publications:

• The mental health of prisoners, A thematic review of the care and support of prisoners with mental health needs, October 2007, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/inspectorate-reports/hmipris/thematic-reports-and-research-publications/mental_health-rps.pdf
• Guidance and forms for those working with mentally disordered offenders, the Ministry of Justice, is available at:  http://www.justice.gov.uk/offenders/types-of-offender/mentally-disordered-offenders
• And the Office for National Statistics, the UK National Statistics Publication Hub, mentally disordered offenders, available at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/crime-justice/offenders/mentally-disordered-offenders/index.html

Information on deaths (including self-inflicted deaths) in prisons is available in the following:

• Statistics on deaths in prison are published by the campaigning group INQUEST, available at: http://www.inquest.org.uk/statistics/deaths-in-prison
• The INQUEST report, Preventing the deaths of women in prison: the need for an alternative approach, June 2013 (statistics up to date as of 1 October 2013), is available at: http://www.inquest.org.uk/pdf/briefings/INQUEST_Preventing_deaths_of_women_in_prison.pdf
• The joint INQEST and Prison Reform Trust report, Fatally flawed: Has the state learned lessons from the deaths of children and young people in prison? 2012 is available at: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Fatally%20Flawed.pdf

Information on drugs in prison is available in:

• The Patel Report, Reducing Drug-Related Crime and Rehabilitating Offenders, Recovery and rehabilitation for drug users in prison and on release: recommendations for action - improving quality - increasing innovation - achieving efficiencies, Prison Drug Treatment Strategy Review Group 2010, available at: http://www.ohrn.nhs.uk/resource/policy/ThePatelReport.pdf
• Tackling prison drug markets: an exploratory qualitative study, Home Office Online Report 39/05, available at: http://www.drugscope.org.uk/Resources/Drugscope/Documents/PDF/Good%20Practice/prisonmarkets.pdf

Information on health in prisons is available in:

• Securing Excellence in Commissioning for Offender Health, NHS Commissioning Board 2013, available at:  http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/offender-commissioning.pdf
• HIV and hepatitis in UK prisons: addressing prisoners’ health care needs, a report by the Prison Reform Trust and the National Aids Trust 2005, available at: http://www.nat.org.uk/Media%20library/Files/PDF%20documents/prisonsreport.pdf

 

Information on the various forms of penal accountability in England and Wales is contained in the following websites, reports and guidelines:

• The Ministry of Justice website on HM Inspectorate of Prisons, available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/about/hmi-prisons
• HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Annual Report, 2012-13, available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/hmi-prisons/hm-inspectorate-prisons-annual-report-2012-13.pdf
• HM Inspectorate of Prisons Corporate Plan, 2012/13 to 2014/15, available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/hmi-prisons/corporate-plan-2012-15.pdf
• The Ministry of Justice website on HM Inspectorate of Probation, available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/about/hmi-probation
• HM Inspectorate of Probation Annual Report, 2012-13, available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/publications/corporate-reports/hmi-p...
• The Ministry of Justice website on the Independent Monitoring Board, available at: http://www.justice.gov.uk/about/imb
• The website on the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, available at: http://www.ppo.gov.uk/
• The annual report for the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman 2012-13, available at: http://www.ppo.gov.uk/docs/PPO_Annual_Report_2012-13.pdf
• The Prison Rules 1999, available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1999/728/contents/made
• Further details of the prison rules are available at: http://www.prisonreformtrust.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/PIB%20extract%20-%20Prison%20rules.pdf
• The European Court of Human Rights, available at: http://www.echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p=home
•  The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, available at: http://www.cpt.coe.int/en/about.htm

The National Offender Management Service provides information on the work of probation services in England and Wales at:  https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/national-offender-management-service/about/about-our-services

The Role of the Probation Service, the eighth report of session 2010-12, the House of Commons Justice Committee, is available at:  http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmjust/519/519i.pdf

The Office for National Statistics provides information at the UK National Statistics Publication Hub, probation, available at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/crime-justice/offenders/probation/index.html

Finally, there is a good deal of information and commentary on the current Government proposals to transform the work of the probation service. For example:

• Transforming Rehabilitation: A strategy for Reform is available from the Ministry of Justice at http://www.justice.gov.uk/transforming-rehabilitation
• Transforming Rehabilitation: a summary of evidence on reducing reoffending is available from the Ministry of Justice at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/transforming-rehabilitation-a-summary-of-evidence-on-reducing-reoffending
• The Justice Committee - Twelfth Report, Crime reduction policies: a co-ordinated approach? Interim report on the Government's Transforming Rehabilitation programme, House of Commons Justice Committee is available at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmselect/cmjust/1004/100402.htm
• And the Probation Chiefs Association has archived articles, reports and commentaries on the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda at: http://probationchiefs.org/tag/transforming-rehabilitation/