Weblog bringing you news and experiences from the world of UK criminal justice, including courts, YOTs, Probation offices, practitioner recruitment and training.
I attended the Nacro 2008 conference, and very good it was to with lots of informative workshops and valuable debates about policy and practice - Thanks NACRO!
One of the things that really struck me was the Thursday morning when the two David’s appeared - Hanson http://www.davidhanson.org.uk/ for Labour and Burrowes http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=people.person.page&personID=81420 for the Tories. Listening to them both I was struck by an uncomfortable feeling - that Hanson sounded like the Tories in the 1990’s. It was all quick soundbites, spending plans etc with the appearance of lots of action; but no substance and no real listening - all spin and no substance in other words. Now Burrowes came across like he appeared to care, rather like Labour pre 97 who would be “tough on the causes of crime.” How we had cheered when Labour were voted in. I guess it just gos to prove the old maxim about power tending to corrupt…..
I think a good and incisive view on the Labour record in criminal justice…..
http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/opus567/Policyreviewmar08.pdf
Pressure on police to hit government targets has resulted in more young people being drawn into the criminal justice system…….
Anyone working in the youth justice system would regard this as the least surprising item of news this year, after the confirmation of news that the Pope is a Catholic, and that Bears defecate in the woods - so thanks NACRO for your research anyway.
In reality, I feel sorry for the police who have to play the game, as well as the young people who are victimised once again by Government targets. Of course the government did not mean to victimise young people; it is another in the never-ending law of unintended consequences. However the net effect (pun intended) is as if they had decided they wanted to widen the net to ensure more young people got hooked into the YJ system. And boy is it difficult to escape once in, particularly if you are young, male and black!
Next time it is my intention to comment on what I would do with the criminal justice system in the UK. Enough criticism I hear you say - what are your constructive solutions? Well I can assure you the solution will not be cute - in fact the opposite. Bet you cannot wait!
Yes it is me and them damn cute solutions again….
My sin (as it is Lent and I can talk in these terms), recently, has been to be too solution focused. Yes it is the curse of the cute solution. This all goes back to brief therapy/solutions focused therapy etc. which encourages one to reject all the preamble and just find the solution. I always thought it sounded too good to be true, and slightly simplistic, and now I know.
I don’t doubt there are times when it has its uses, but for me now, it has none. I think that it is best to let conflict/issues work themselves through the system while doing a thorough analysis - the “solution” will normally then present itself without being forced out like a five day turd stuck in the bowel of Mr Constipation a resident of Blocked Bowel lane. Yes, let nature take its course.
Now of course this is a crim justice blog, so I will let the reader decide whether what I have written has any relevance to the discource on the subject. I will give you a hint though - forcing solutions, simplistic analysis of problems, quick fixes……
It has been brought to my attention by a loyal reader(!) that I am perhaps painting myself into a corner as to my political and other beliefs.
Well it is true that I can be cantankerous at times, as well as bolshie, but as for being a leftie….. How can that be when I run a pulsatingly beautiful and dynamic capitalist company that would have Marx running for his smelling salts. I am a capitalist …….. but only because in order to “succeed” or to be recognised as a success in this country, you need to make money.
What kind of sick society do we live in where that is the case!! I feel a case of bolshie leftism coming over me again - so had better stop now!
February 27, 2008 – 12:48 pm
A few weeks back I wrote about how to deal with a problem - don’t rush it. This week is a follow up to that.
The number of times that I have looked at a problem, and then rushed to solution rather than take time to properly analyse it, I blush to think. I have looked for the instant solution- the cute fix.
On paper it all looks so clever, the problem and the solution all in one box, wrapped up in nice paper with a label on that says Clever Andrew! Never again though -famous last words!
The amount of trouble I have created by trying to be too cute is rather frightening. By taking enough time only to look at the superficial symptoms of the problem and diagnose on the basis of that I have created far worse problems than the original one that needed to be dealt with. I believe this is part of the Law of Unintended Consequences.
I wonder if this train of thought can in anyway be related to the Government’s handling of crime in the UK?
February 18, 2008 – 5:12 pm
It would seem that the Government has an idea about taking restorative justice to the street. On first sight this sounds like a goodish intention - instant restorative justice. However a micro moment of thought - which I have given this - shows the idea has a few flaws.
The intention, very briefly, is that a young person who commits a crime on the street that is considered low level and that cannot be dealt with by another sanction and that has an identifiable victim, is apprehended by a police officer.
The victim is then approached by a police officer and asked if he/she wants to be part of the restorative process. In the meantime the young person of course does not run off.
The victim then agree to take part in a restorative process, as does the young person.
The restorative process then occurs which is notified to the Youth Offending Team.
If anyone can see any obvious flaws in the process - not least in how it will give restorative justice a bad name - please let the Ministry of Justice know….
February 11, 2008 – 3:21 pm
Oh My God!
Read the first line of the Sun editorial for today. OK, they get a little lazy further on, and trot out the usual unthought out prejudices; but they do say there is no quick fix.
Well done Rebecca, or whichever sub it was.
THE scourge of yobs on our streets is a complex problem with no quick fix.
At its root is the collapse of family values and the rise of a dependency culture.
Benefits now encourage family breakdown, depriving a generation of young men of a male role model.
Directionless and lacking respect for authority, they drift into adulthood knowing State handouts will keep them for life.
They can always top them up with crime. In the unlikely event they’re caught, the penalties are feeble.
ASBOs aren’t working. Most louts think they’re a badge of honour. And they do nothing to address the causes of crime Labour vowed to tackle.
This is not just us talking. It’s the view of pro-Labour think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research.
The Tories unveil their views on the “Jeremy Kyle” generation today.
It’s time Gordon Brown followed up his many promises with radical action too.
February 1, 2008 – 9:40 am
One of life’s harsh lessons for me has been how to problem solve, the technique that is.
Historically as soon as a problem appears I have rushed to solve it, and by doing so miss the nub of the issue that has led to the problem. In fact I have ended up dealing with the symptoms rather than the cause.
Now this is what I aspire to: Let the problem appear, don’t rush it, just think about it at the back of my mind. Compare to similar issues, look for prior patterns, mull. By doing this I have a better chance of hitting on the root cause, and forming a permanent solution.
Now lets apply this philosophy to the Government’s crime policy. Hmmmmm.
My advice to Gordon, Jack and Jackie. Sit back and relax. These problems will normally sort themselves out. When you are relaxed you can then start looking at the real issues behind crime, and perhaps come to some startling conclusions.
January 28, 2008 – 2:39 pm
From the Guardian…. £459 a night is a pretty decent hotel in the centre of London. What are the Government up to? They are more and more like the Tories in the 1990’s - no underpinning philosophy apart from making a headline in the Daily Mail - save us!
Prisoners who are held in police cells as a result of jail overcrowding are costing the taxpayer £459 a night, figures released today show. The Liberal Democrats and penal reform campaigners said the revised estimates underlined how Operation Safeguard, the programme to relieve the pressure on the Prison Service, demonstrated that the taxpayer was being forced to pick up the tab for the government’s failure to reform sentencing properly.
The figure is higher than the government’s original estimate of £385 a night and far higher than the £77-a-night average cost of keeping a male prisoner in a category B jail.
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