Recent developments

Impact on the family

Latest figures show that there are about 160,000 children who have a parent in custody each year, but the effect on children, is most acute when it is their mother, rather than their father, who is imprisoned and over 17,240 children were thought to be living apart from their mothers because of imprisonment in 2010. Once in prison, many prisoners lose contact with their families, because of imprisonment itself, or because they are held a long way from home. For women prisoners, the average distance from home is 55 miles and for many women the distance may be over 100 miles.
See: Prison Reform Trust (2011) Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile, London PRT, pp. 27-8.

Women defendants

Figures published under s 95 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, show that a higher proportion of women defendants than men receive fines, and a lower proportion of women defendants than men receive community sentences, sentenced sentences and immediate custody.  The average length of community sentences is also shorter for women than men.  Women are also more likely to complete community sentences successfully (Ministry of Justice 2011 Race and the Criminal Justice System, London, Ministry of Justice, p.54). 

Furthermore, for those women given an immediate custodial sentence for indictable offences, the average sentence length is 11 months compared to 17 months for men.   Over 60 per cent of women in prison are serving short sentences.   However, a higher proportion of women serving sentences for indictable offences have no previous convictions.  So they are more likely to go to prison with fewer previous convictions than men. Data from the British Crime Survey also shows that women have higher rates of victimisation of personal crime including violence from intimates and theft from their person.
Chaplin, R., Flatley, J. and Smith, K. (2011) Crime in England and Wales 2010/11 Findings from the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime, Home Office Statistical Bulletin 10/11. London, Home Office. 

The Report of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Women in the Penal System in 2011 found that there was a higher percentage of women than men in prison for non-violent offences and, an increase in the number of women in prison since 2010, and that there had been an increase in the number of women prisoners remanded in custody.

All Party Parliamentary Group on Women in the Penal System (2011) Women in the penal system, Second report on women with particular vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system. London, Howard League.

Ethnic minorities

Latest figures also confirm the disproportionate presence of ethnic minorities in the prison population in England and Wales. In 2011 black and minority ethnic prisoners constituted 26 per cent of the prison population.  Black prisoners are also more likely to be serving longer sentences than white or Asian prisoners. The figures for 2010 show that the highest average custodial sentence length for those given determinate sentences for indictable offences were as follows: Black 20.8 months, Asian 19.9 months, Other 19.7 months and White 14.9 months.

See Ministry of Justice (2011) Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System. London, Ministry of Justice, p. 58.

A new study of juries considers whether  jury composition has implications for the outcomes of cases:
Thomas, C. (2010) Are juries fair?   Ministry of Justice Research Series 1/10. London, Ministry of Justice.

10.3.2 Gender - Differential treatment p 327

A recent report from Australia based on data from sentencing outcomes in the Victorian courts again shows differential sentencing outcomes: Report on Gender Differences in Sentencing Outcomes (Aug 2010). It revealed the following:

• Women’s offending tends to be less serious than men’s, with women less likely to be involved in violent offences.
• Women are less likely to be sentenced to imprisonment and, when they are, they receive shorter terms in prison. Women are more likely to receive a wholly suspended sentence or a community-based order.
• Women prisoners have less serious criminal histories than do men, with fewer prior convictions and less serious previous and current offending.
• Women’s sentences are shorter than men’s as women are more likely to have a group of factors that can reduce sentence length: they are more likely than men to have a history of mental illness, physical or sexual abuse in childhood or adulthood and drug abuse.

Accessed at:

10.5 Disability pp 335-336

The final report in the series No One Knows was published in 2008. It includes the results of interviews with prisoners with learning disabilities. The prisoners reported problems in filling in forms so that they missed out on visits, difficulty gaining access to prison services, and problems in making themselves understood. They were also more likely than the control group to be subject to control and restraint and to be segregated. The Report also makes a number of recommendations, including awareness training and provision of special need provisions in prison education.
See: J. Talbot (2008) No One Knows: Report and Final Recommendations, Prisoners' Voices: The experience of the criminal justice system by prisoners with learning disabilities and difficulties, London, Prison Reform Trust.

The problems of identifying, assessing, diverting and treating prisoners with mental health problems and learning disabilities have been highlighted by the Bradley Report. This Report recommends further research on these problems as well as on the links between mental health and learning disability issues and imprisonment for public protection, greater coordination between agencies and continuity of care for prisoners leaving prison and registering prisoners with general practitioners while in prison (Bradley 2009).  Within sentenced prisoners IPP prisoners appear to suffer more from mental health problems (Jacobson and Hough 2010: 15).

References:

Bradley, Lord (2009) Lord Bradley’s Review of  people with mental health problems or learning disabilities in the criminal justice system, London, Department of Health.
Jacobson, J. and Hough, M. (2010) Unjust Deserts: Imprisonment for Public Protection, London PRT. 

Reviews of disabled prisoners and older prisoners have been conducted by the Prison Inspectorate. See the following reports:

HM Inspectorate of Prisons (2009a) Disabled Prisoners: A Short Thematic Review on the care and support of prisoners with a disability, London, HMIP.
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (2008) Older Prisoners in England and Wales: A Follow Up to the 2004 Thematic Review, London,  HMIP.