By Hilde Tubex and Natalie Gately

This paper contributes to the growing body of scholarship related to the impact of imprisonment on families, from the particular perspective of parents, siblings and other close relatives of people serving a life sentence. We argue that those family members are often overlooked in research and service provision, while bearing the burden of the association with the offender. This is particularly problematic for relatives of life sentenced prisoners, having to cope with the seriousness of the offence, and the uncertainty of the perspectives of release. Based on 17 interviews conducted in Western Australia, we discuss family members’ confrontation with and experiences throughout the criminal justice system. We report on how they manage to “live with life” and which coping mechanisms they developed. Our findings call for more investment into the matter, to generate a scholarship for a better understanding of and supporting initiatives for those close relatives.

Journal of Criminology, 2023. Online first

By The Independent Monitoring Boards

Independent Monitoring Boards (IMBs) monitor and report on the conditions and treatment of those detained in every prison in England and Wales. The government recently rejected the Justice Select Committee’s recommendation for a resentencing exercise to take place for anyone serving an IPP sentence. IMBs submitted current findings on the impact of this decision, and the sentence itself, on IPP prisoners’ wellbeing. This briefing summarises findings from 24 IMBs submitted between 17 February and 9 March 2023 and references two 2021-22 annual reports from IMBs at HMPs Hewell and Moorland, which conducted surveys with IPP prisoners. Key findings The findings indicated: • Serious safety implications were heightened by the recent announcement, with assessment, care in custody and teamwork (ACCT) documents being opened for several IPP prisoners. Three apparently self-inflicted deaths of IPP prisoners occurred in three prisons in the four weeks following the announcement. • IPP prisoners had increased feelings of hopelessness and frustration following the announcement, which IMBs noted could act as a catalyst for poor mental health, violence and disruptive behaviour. • Variable and often inadequate staff engagement both pre- and post-announcement, with some prisoners only learning of the decision through a letter. • Progression pathways were poor and unclear to prisoners, which meant many prisoners questioned whether they would ever be released following the announcement. Some prisoners were being held in inappropriate establishments, often without access to required courses. The increasing difficulty of transferring to open conditions has left some prisoners ‘institutionalised’. • Insufficient preparation for parole hearings and for release, with reports of inadequate care plans and ‘through the gate’ provision. This lack of provision contributed to recall: for example, some prisoners were recalled only because of issues arising from the loss of accommodation.

London: Independent Monitoring Boards, 2023. 6p.

By Roger Grimshaw

Across the UK, an individual can find themselves detained, with no clear sense of when they might be released, under a number of different powers, laws and regulations. In the case of criminal justice detention, indeterminate detention takes three main forms. An unconvicted individual can be remanded in prison while awaiting trial. Given the current backlog of cases in the criminal courts, an individual can be left languishing in prison awaiting trial for months, in some cases years. Life imprisonment – mandatory in the case of a murder conviction – is the second form of indeterminate criminal justice detention. An individual subject to a life sentence has to serve a minimum period in custody (the so-called ‘tariff’) before they can be considered for release. Ongoing detention at the end of the tariff period is common. On release, a life sentence prisoner is subject to lifelong supervision, with recall to prison at any point a real possibility. The third form of indeterminate criminal justice detention are the three life sentence-like sentences: in England and Wales, the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence; in Northern Ireland, the indeterminate custodial sentence (ICS); and in Scotland, the order for lifelong restriction (OLR). The IPP, ICS and OLR sentences work in a way similar to the life sentence: an indeterminate period in custody, followed by ongoing supervision on release in the community, if the prisoner manages to secure release. They can, though, be imposed for a far wider range of offences than is allowed for by the relatively narrow set of offences in the case of a life sentence. The subject of this briefing is the IPP, ICS and OLR sentences. The main conclusion it draws relates to the question of whether such sentences should be considered a form of psychological torture. With the failed abolition of the IPP sentences in England and Wales, and the ongoing operation of the ICS and OLR sentences in Northern Ireland and Scotland, the torturous and unfair aspects of these indeterminate sentences are likely to become ever more apparent.

London: Centre for Crime and Justice Studies , 2023. 8p.

By Jacqueline Beard

Sentences of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP sentences) were available for courts to impose from 2005 to 2012. They were designed to detain offenders who posed a significant risk of causing serious harm to the public through further serious offences in prison until they no longer posed such a risk. IPP sentences are indeterminate as opposed to fixed-term sentences. They have a minimum term that must be served in custody, sometimes called a ‘tariff’ that must be served before a prisoner can be considered for release by the Parole Board. The prisoner can then only be released once the Parole Board is satisfied the prisoner no longer needs to be confined for the safety of the public. Release is never automatic, and prisoners can be detained indefinitely if the Parole Board decides it is not safe to release them. When released, a person serving an IPP sentence will be on licence, subject to conditions. Breaching the conditions of the licence may result in the person being recalled to prison. If recalled, a person must remain in prison until the Parole Board is satisfied that custody is no longer necessary for public protection. The licence will be in force indefinitely until its termination. People serving an IPP sentence are eligible to have termination of their licence considered by the Parole Board ten years after their first release.

London: House of Commons Library, 2023. 22p.