Social Exclusion and Imprisonment in Scotland

1. Social Exclusion and Imprisonment in Scotland rhou@gcal.ac.uk

2. Social exclusion and Scottish prisoners Two halves Report research Implications for penal policy First half The social background of the prisoner population The task of prisons in preparing prisoners for resettlement An initial model of social exclusion and its relationship with offending

3. Please note The research that will be reported is about the distribution of punishment, not the distribution of offending or offenders. It is true that offenders (and victims) will tend to be concentrated in the communities from which the imprisoned population comes But the relationship is complex. Many characteristics of the criminal justice system mediate between offending and punishment. This research reports the consequences of that total process

4. The Research Everyone in custody in a Scottish prison on the night of June 30th, 2003 6558 people - 6007 in sample (91.6%) 176 from outside Scotland, 374 untraceable addresses/post codes Unable to use sample of all releases over 3 month period Field work in each prison Interviews of staff responsible for prisoner activities and reviews of expenditure 60 semi-structured interviews with prisoners who had been released and re-admitted during the previous year

5. Housing types Used the Scottish ACORN database of housing types A commercially available database used extensively both for marketing and for social research (Viz: Scottish Crime Survey) Specific to full 7 digit postcodes Based on 43 housing types: 1. Wealthy families, largest detached houses 43. Many lone parents, greatest hardship, council flats Summarised in 8 housing type groups: A. Affluent consumers with large houses H. Poorest council estates Tendency to shift from the most prosperous to the most deprived, but not a continuum � a classification

6. Housing types 10.2 of the general population live in Type H housing: 28.4 of the prisoner population But great variation between prisons: 43.0% of Low Moss prisoners came from Type H 3.2% of Inverness prisoners This largely reflects prevalence of Type H housing in the catchment area of the prison Of 679 prisoners from Barlinnie and Low Moss who gave home addresses in Glasgow City, 60.1% would return to Type H housing

7. Social deprivation Scottish Index Of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) 2003 � produced by Social Disadvantage Research Centre (SRDC) Oxford Based on 1222 local authority wards (typical population - 4,150) Uses 5 domains: Income (30%) Employment (30%) Health deprivation and Disability (15%) Education, skills and training (15%) Geographical access to services (10%) 2004 � produced by Office of the Chief Statistician, Scottish Executive Based on 6505 data zones (typical population � 750) Uses 6 domains Current income (6) Employment (6) Health (3) Education skills and training (3) Geographic access and telecommunications (2) Housing (1)

8. Social deprivation Income Numbers on income support, Job seekers, Family tax credit, Disability tax credit Employment Unemployment claimant count, Incapacity benefit, Severe disablement allowance, Compulsory New Deal participants Health Comparative mortality factor, Hospital episodes related to alcohol, Hospital episodes related to drugs, Comparative illness factor, Emergency admissions to hospital, Prescribed drugs for anxiety, depression or psychosis, Proportion of low weight births

9. Social deprivation Education skills and training Performance at SQA level 4, 16 year olds not in full time education, 17 year olds not successfully applying for higher education, Adults without qualifications, Secondary school absences Geographic access and telecommunications Distance to GP, supermarket, petrol station, primary school, post office (In 2004 it became drive time) Housing Overcrowded households, Households without central heating Not yet developed Other financial resources, Crime and social order, Physical environment, Social relations and social capital

10. Social deprivation Scotland has wards with scores on the Index of less than 1 � with negligible evidence of deprivation of any form up to almost 90. 710 Scottish wards score less than 20 (1656 prisoners) 43 Scottish wards score more than 60 (1314 prisoners) To score 60 or above on the Index a ward is characterised by serious or acute deprivation in 4 of the 5 indicators (2003) or 5 of the 6 � (2004): Income, Employment, Education, Health, (Housing) There is high correlation between each of 4 (5) indicators and overall deprivation but low correlation between the domain of geographic access and the others

11. Distribution of the prisoner population

12. The correlation between deprivation of community and imprisonment rate

13. Age profiles for each 10 point interval on the SIMD

14. Imprisonment rate The imprisonment rate in Scotland in general was 129/100k That compares with 31/100k in India 87/100/k in Belgium 155/100k in New Zealand 226/100k in Iran 416/100k in Ukraine 562/100k in Russian Federation 726/100k in USA 10/100k for women in Scotland 237/100k for men in Scotland 924/100k for men aged 20-25 953/100k for all men from wards with an SIMD over 70 3,427/100k for 23 yr old men from wards with SIMD score >70

15. Imprisonment rate One in nine men from our most deprived communities will spend time in prison while they are 23

16. How should we interpret these data? Probability of imprisonment is as much an indicator of relative social deprivation as short life expectancy or risk of chronic unemployment That holds true across the spectrum of prosperity/deprivation � it is not a bifurcation Probability of imprisonment is a social role characteristic Intensifying criminal justice responses are both ethically dubious and unlikely to be effective

17. Prisons� workloads

18. Measuring the work of prisons

19. Measuring the criminal justice work of Local Authorities

20. The links between prisons and local authorities

21. Prisons� workload There are directly conflicting arguments for concentrating prison investment in long term prisoners or in the high turnover short term prisons. If we are to impact on ameliorating the damage that is inflicted by short term imprisonment then the per capita levels of spending on services for remand and short term prisoners need to be increased dramatically. The complexity of the task of prisons and local authorities relating to each other also varies greatly. There are 512 possible such links. Only 23 of these account for 50% of all prison/community movements. Particular resettlement problems exist in relation to: �National facilities� for women, children and long term prisoners in open conditions The geographical distribution of the prison estate

22. A model of social exclusion

23. A model of social exclusion

24. A model of social exclusion

25. A model of social exclusion

26. A model of social exclusion Self-sustaining, dynamic interdependence sensitivity to change in other domains context specificity reflexivity

27. How should we respond to social exclusion? Deprivation is a characteristic of total communities. It only expresses itself as social exclusion associated in increased risk of imprisonment for specific gender and age defined roles. Those roles, however, are defined by the total pattern of relationships within the communities. Any response has to be to the total community and has to work broadly and consistently across a spectrum of the variables that characterise exclusion It has to be expected that working with �offenders� will have limited success

28. Discussion of findings Systemic association between social exclusion and imprisonment Great concentration of the problem in a small number of communities and roles The complex, self-sustaining, resilient nature of social exclusion The relative small number of communities on which strategy needs to be focused We need to review the relative roles of; criminal justice and community regeneration and prison and local authority

29. Review of Criminal Justice Principles Re-assess the relative roles of criminal justice and wider social policies as mechanisms for addressing unwanted behaviour. Develop a set of principles by which to decide whether a form a unwanted behaviour should be criminalised: What are the forms of behaviour that are profoundly offensive to deeply held Scottish values If some are representative of only a sector of society, exercise particular caution when responding to the behaviour of the sector that does not share the values of the majority (or the enfranchised) Be clear that imprisonment is essentially punishing and damaging. We may need it for reasons of public censure or protection but should be clear that by using it we are likely to compound the problem we are seeking to address. rhou@gcal.ac.uk

30. Review of Criminal Justice Principles (Using DTTO�s as a model) consider where the balance should be drawn between: our need to express our censure, our interest in reducing the occurrence of the unwanted behaviour our recognition of the rights and humanity of the person giving offence Shift the emphasis towards a mature dialogue on the basis of shared responsibilities between criminal justice institutions and the members of the community whose behaviour gives offence rhou@gcal.ac.uk

31. Review of Criminal Justice Specific reforms Set policy targets for reduction of the prison population � (for example, <60/100k by 2020) In all cases that might be conducted under summary procedure; Place a requirement on the prosecutor to try to resolve the situation, as appropriate, by an blend of: Victim mediation Community reparation Community sanction, only allowing a criminal prosecution to proceed if it proves impossible to resolve the offence less formally. rhou@gcal.ac.uk

32. Review of Criminal Justice Specific reforms Where a prison sentence is imposed following summary proceedings allow the sentenced person to return home until a prison place becomes available and he is summoned to serve sentence Statutorily remove the possibility of imprisonment: Of children As a means of enforcing a lesser punishment rhou@gcal.ac.uk

33. Review of Criminal Justice Specific reforms Introduce a statutory right, subject to reciprocal duties and obligations on both the sentenced person and the responsible authorities, to a period of supervision in the community as a component of all prison sentences Institute routine post-code monitoring of all criminal justice decisions

34. Thank you For an electronic copy of the research report e-mail rhou@gcal.ac.uk