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Institute for criminal justice system 'could cut crime'

25/11/2008

An institute for the criminal justice system could cut crime and save millions of pounds, a new report claims.

The report published by the nef, new economics foundation, and supported by the Prison Reform Trust today claimed that such an institute could make sentencing significantly more effective.

The authors of today's report claim that a criminal justice system focused on short-term control and narrow re-offending targets actually costs more.

A better understanding of the effectiveness and costs to society of prison and alternatives, such as community sentences, would allow resources to be targeted on more effective sentences, the report states.

The authors claim that for women offenders in particular community sentences work better and cost far less than imprisonment for those non-serious or non-violent offenders.

Eilis Lawlor, author of the report, said: "With public finances now under considerable pressure, the case of women offenders is just one example of how government failure to account for the real value of public investment is counter-productive.

"Our research shows that, for non-violent women offenders, effective community sentences that address the causes of criminal behaviour are more cost effective and are more likely to help them turn their lives around.

"Women, their children, society and the public purse all benefit if they are able to stay in their homes, keep their jobs and continue to look after their children.

"These findings also have relevance to wider sentencing decisions."

Today's report claimed that for every one pound invested in effective alternatives to prison for women, society would benefit by £14.

Since 1997 the number of women in prison has doubled at a rate twice that of the male population and there has been a sharp increase in reconviction rates.

Juliet Lyon, Director of the Prison Reform Trust, added: "These important findings highlight the price we pay for failing vulnerable women at risk of offending. Women's prisons are not full of serious and violent offenders; instead they are being used as stopgap, cut-price providers of drug detox, mental health assessment and shelter - a dumping ground for those failed by public services."