By Prison Reform International and the Thailand Institute of Justice

The Global Prison Trends 2024 report is the 10th edition in this flagship series, offering a detailed overview of the major developments and challenges in prison systems around the world. Published in collaboration with the Thailand Institute of Justice, this edition sheds light on key issues such as prison overcrowding, the mental health crisis in prisons, corruption, and the growing use of digital technologies. It also highlights the significant disparities in prison labour, including variations in access, pay and working conditions.

In addition to identifying these challenges, the 2024 report showcases innovative solutions, including ‘green’ initiatives aimed at promoting rehabilitation and sustainability.

London: Penal Reform International , 52p 2024

By Paul McGorrery and Zsombor Bathy

This report reviews 20 years of data in our Sentencing Snapshots to identify changes in sentencing practices in the higher courts for a select number of offences:

• murder, manslaughter and culpable driving causing death

• various cause injury offences

• drug trafficking and cultivation offences

• rape, incest and a number of child sex offences.

It outlines offender numbers, imprisonment rates, imprisonment lengths and non-parole periods for each offence.

Melbourne: Sentencing Advisory Council (VIC), 2022. 24p.

By Paul McGorrery and Zsombor Bathy

An aggregate prison sentence involves a court imposing a single prison sentence on multiple criminal offences rather than a separate prison sentence on each offence. Table 1 illustrates the difference between aggregate and non-aggregate prison sentences. In the first example, the offender has received a single aggregate prison sentence of two years for aggravated burglary and theft. And in the second example, the offender has received separate non-aggregate prison sentences for the same two offences. The end result in both examples is identical – a two-year total sentence – but the method of arriving at that total sentence differs.

There are a number of advantages to aggregate sentencing. It can significantly improve court efficiency, especially in cases with a large number of charges. It can avoid the impression of ‘artificiality’ in the sentencing process, particularly if there is an impression that the court has determined the most appropriate total effective sentence that is proportionate to the overall offending, but then has adjusted the various charge-level sentences and cumulation orders to achieve that result. It can also reduce calculation errors that may occur when charge-level sentences are made wholly or partly cumulative or concurrent, again especially in cases with a large number of charges. Aggregate sentencing can also, however, reduce transparency in sentencing, limit courts’ ability to assess current sentencing practices and, as this paper shows, result in some offences receiving sentences in excess of their maximum penalty. There has, to date, been no examination of Victorian courts’ use of aggregate prison sentences since their introduction in 1997. The aims of this paper are to utilise court data to review trends in the use of aggregate prison sentences in Victoria, and to then consider issues arising from their use.

Melbourne: Advisory Sentencing Council (VIC), 2023. 28p.

By Benjamin van Rooij, Malouke Esra Kuiper, and Alexis Piquero

Legal punishment, at least in part, serves a behavioral function to reduce and prevent offending behavior. The present paper offers an integrated review of the diverse mechanisms through which punishment may affect such behavior. It moves beyond a legal view that focuses on just three such mechanisms (deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation), to also include other socializing, delegitimizing, compliance obstructing, and offence adapting mechanisms in how punishment may influence offending. The paper assesses the quality of existing empirical knowledge about the different effects of punishment and the conditions under which these effects exist. It concludes that punishment has at least thirteen different influences on crime prevention, five positive and eight negative. It shows that such effects are conditional, depending on the offender, offence, punishment, and jurisdiction. Furthermore, it shows that the effects vary in their directness, proximity, onset and longevity. It concludes that our current empirical understanding does not match the complex reality of how punishment comes to shape crime. In light of this, the paper develops a research agenda on the integrated effects of punishment moving beyond limited causal mechanisms to embrace the fuller complexity of how sanctions shape human conduct by adopting a complexity science approach.

UC Irvine School of Law Research Paper Forthcoming.Amsterdam Law School Research Paper No. 2024-13. Center for Law & Behavior Research Paper No. 2024-01

By Vishal Kamat, Samuel Norris and Matthew Pecenco

The criminal justice system affects millions of Americans through criminal convictions and incarceration. In this paper, we introduce a new method for credibly estimating the effects of both conviction and incarceration using randomly assigned judges as instruments for treatment. Misdemeanor convictions, especially for defendants with a shorter criminal record, cause an increase in the number of new offenses committed over the following five years. Incarceration on more serious felony charges, in contrast, reduces recidivism during the period of incapacitation, but has no effect after release. Our method allows the researcher to isolate specific treatment effects of interest as well as estimate the effect of broader policies; we find that courts could reduce crime by dismissing marginal charges against defendants accused of misdemeanors, with larger reductions among first-time defendants and those facing more serious charges.

Written March 2024. SSRN.

MAY CONTAIN MARKUP

EDITED BY TARA HERIVEL AND PAUL WRIGHT

"Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America's Poor" offers a compelling examination of the intersecting issues of poverty and incarceration in the United States. Through meticulous research and incisive analysis, this book sheds light on the troubling reality of how the most vulnerable members of society are disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system. Blending personal narratives with stark statistics, the author navigates the complex web of policies and practices that perpetuate a cycle of poverty and imprisonment. An urgent call to action, "Prison Nation" challenges readers to confront the deep-rooted inequalities that plague the American justice system and to advocate for meaningful change.

Routledge. NEW YORK AND LONDON. 2003. 333p.

By the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is responsible for developing sound correctional practices and adhering to its policies that ensure the safety and security of federal inmates in its care. High-profile inmate deaths at BOP institutions, such as the homicide of James “Whitey” Bulger in 2018 and the suicide of Jeffrey Epstein in 2019, brought national focus to the BOP’s operational and management challenges, and U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigations of these deaths identified serious BOP job performance and management failures. Additionally, Congress and prisoner advocacy groups have expressed concerns about the BOP’s efforts to prevent inmate deaths, particularly following several inmate homicides at U.S. Penitentiary (USP) Hazelton and USP Thomson. The OIG initiated this evaluation to assess the circumstances surrounding deaths among inmates at BOP institutions that occurred from fiscal year (FY) 2014 through FY 2021 and to evaluate how the BOP seeks to prevent future deaths. We analyzed the frequency and pattern of deaths among BOP inmates in four categories: (1) suicide, (2) homicide, (3) accident, and (4) those resulting from unknown factors. We also identified potential management deficiencies and systemic issues related to those deaths, including the prevalence of long-standing operational challenges highlighted in prior OIG work. Recommendations We make 12 recommendations to assist the BOP in addressing risk factors that contribute to inmate deaths

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, 2024. 111p.

By Aimee Brinn, John Preston, Rosina Costello, Tyler Opoku, Emily Sampson, Ian Elliott and Annie Sorbie

The Thinking Skills Programme (TSP) is an accredited offending behaviour programme designed and delivered by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS). TSP is suitable for adult men and women assessed to be at medium and above risk of reoffending. TSP is the highest volume accredited programme delivered in custody.

The TSP is designed to reduce general reoffending by supporting improvements in four ways:

• 1. Developing thinking skills (such as problem solving, flexible thinking, consequential thinking, critical reasoning)

• 2. Applying these skills to managing personal risk factors

• 3. Applying thinking skills to developing personally relevant protective factors

• 4. Applying thinking skills to setting pro-social goals that support relapse prevention.

The programme format comprises 19 sessions (15 group sessions and 4 individual sessions, resulting in around 38 hours of contact time (dose).

The Evaluation

The aim of this evaluation is to assess the impact of TSP delivered in prison on proven general reoffending within a two-year follow-up period.

The analysis involved a treatment group of 20,293 adults (18,555 males, 1,738 females) who participated in the TSP programme between 2010 and 2019 and this was compared to a matched comparison group of 375,647 adults (345,084 males, 30,563 females) who did not participate in the programme. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to ensure comparable treatment and comparison groups. The evaluation used the largest number of PSM matching variables for a HMPPS accredited programme evaluation to date.

The evaluation also has a large sample size which means it is likely to be representative of the population of TSP participants. A larger sample generates more precise results and increases the power of statistical testing. This increases the likelihood of finding a statistically significant finding (i.e., not due to chance) even if the difference between the treatment group and the matched comparison group is small. All adults in this study were released from prison between 2010 and 2020.

The impact of TSP was evaluated against three proven general reoffending metrics over a two-year follow up period:

• 1. Binary measure of reoffending (reoffending rate) – did they re-offend?

• 2. Frequency of re-offences committed – How many re-offences over the two-year period?

• 3. Time to first re-offence

Males and females were analysed separately due to the known differences in reoffending behaviour. Headline results include all participants in the programme, separated by gender. Analyses were conducted to investigate the potentially differential effect of TSP participation on distinct subgroups and to provide information on how differences in TSP delivery may impact on its effectiveness. It was not always possible to conduct sub-analyses due to small sample sizes.

Four key sub-analyses (more details are in ‘Explanation of sub-analyses’) were identified as potentially important moderators of TSP effectiveness:

• Suitability for TSP (ideally suitable and not ideally suitable)

• Completion of TSP (completed and not completed)

• Programme integrity using the HMPPS 2016-2019 Interventions Integrity Framework (broadly maintained and compromised)

• Risk of reoffending prior to TSP (Offender Group Reconviction Score (OGRS): low, medium, or high risk of reoffending).

Additional sub-analyses were conducted to provide further context and explanation of results included:

• Index offence group (acquisitive offences, sexual offences, and OVP (OASys Violence Predictor) offences – based on grouping of Home Office offence codes)

• Exclusivity of TSP (participation in TSP only and in one or more other accredited programmes)

• Ethnic group (‘Asian and Asian British’, ‘Black, Black British, Caribbean, and African’, ‘mixed and multiple ethnic groups’, and ‘White’, as per Office for National Statistics aggregate categories)

• Learning Disabilities and Challenges (LDC) (more likely to present with characteristics associated with LDC and less likely to present with characteristics associated with LDC)

• Age (18-25, 26-30, 31-49 and 50+)

London: Ministry of Justice, 2023. 92p.

By Bergman, Marcelo; Seepersad, Randy; Safranoff, Ana; Cafferata, Fernando G.

This report presents new systematic data on the characteristics of inmates in prisons in six Caribbean countries, the factors which may have led to their incarceration, the conditions within the prisons facilities, the judicial processes that led to their convictions, and their perspectives of re-entry. The data were collected through the Survey of Individuals Deprived of Liberty in The Bahamas (2016), Barbados (2018), Guyana (2017), Jamaica (2018), Suriname (2018), and Trinidad and Tobago (2018). Special emphasis is placed on gender, age, and legal status as well as on the problem of recidivism by seeking to identify the conditions that led prisoners to become repeat offenders. There were several important findings that highlight strengths and weaknesses within the correctional systems of the Carib-bean. This study provides relevant insights to improving the general situation of prisons in the Caribbean region. Overall, the results suggest that more effort needs to be placed on programs and policies that improve inmates conditions within the prisons (more educational programs and paid employment opportunities; adequate legal defense and stream-lined court processes; reduced overcrowding and victimization, among other things). Finally, the report highlights that comprehensive re-entry strategies should be developed for all Caribbean countries.

Center for Latin American Studies on Insecurity and Violence; 2020.

By Cara L. C. Hunter, Fergus McNeill, Milena Tripkovic

This article explores both the reasons for, and the potential impact of, the current level of disenfranchisement in Scotland. First, we scrutinise Scottish legal provisions for their compatibility with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)’s jurisprudence, which require disenfranchisement's aims to be clarified and delimited. Second, we examine where disenfranchisement sits within the wider context of Scottish penal values, and what principles underlie its imposition. Finally, we turn to a discussion of whether and how dis/enfranchisement aligns with the Scottish Government's commitments to the rehabilitation and reintegration of people who have been in prison, and to related empirical evidence about desistance from crime. The limited enfranchisement of prisoners established by the Scottish Government in 2020 avoided these core questions and this article aims to help address this neglect and to open up dialogue on these issues.

The Howard Journal of Crime and Justice, 2023.\

By UK Ministry of Justice

A summary of what happened to the prison population between 1993 and 2020 and the major factors contributing to the changes.

London: Ministry of Justice, 2020. 18p.

By Pew Trust

The most effective therapy for people with opioid use disorder (OUD) involves the use of Food and Drug Administration-approved medications—methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone. Despite evidence that this approach, known as medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), reduces relapse and saves lives, the vast majority of jails and prisons do not offer this treatment. This brief examines what policymakers should consider when exploring how to best manage OUD in incarcerated populations.

It helps to first answer this question: How common is OUD in incarcerated populations? Data from 2007-2009 (the most recent available) showed that more than half of individuals in state prisons or those with jail sentences met the criteria for a non-alcohol and nicotine-related substance use disorder (SUD), meaning a problematic pattern of using a drug that results in impairment in daily life or noticeable distress, compared with only 5 percent of adults in the general population.

The gold standard of care is MOUD. In community-based settings, such as opioid treatment programs and primary care facilities, methadone and buprenorphine have been proved to reduce overdose deaths and illicit opioid use as well as the transmission of infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C. A growing body of literature also exists on the benefits of naltrexone, the third Food and Drug Administration-approved medication.

By Miranda Davies, Rachel Hutchings and Eilís Keeble

There were 11,494 people under 25 years of age in young offender institutions and prisons in England and Wales as of 31 December 2022, representing 14% of the total population in custody. While the number of children (under 18) in secure settings has fallen sharply over the past 15 years, very serious challenges remain over the use of force in the children’s secure estate, with ongoing concern over children being held in solitary confinement, some for extended periods. From a legal perspective, young people are treated as adults from the age of 18 within the criminal justice system, but there is recognition of the needs of 18- to 25-year-olds as ‘young adults’ (see the work of t2a.org.uk), distinct from the needs of children or other adults. This analysis uses routinely collected hospital data to look at the service-use patterns of children and young adults aged 25 and under in young offender institutions and prisons in England. We engaged with experts and looked at the literature to consider this in the context of the key health care needs of young people. Looking across the children’s secure estate as well as the adult estate provides a novel perspective on the key health care issues for young people, allowing us to compare experiences in the so-called ‘children and young people secure estate’, which caters for those aged 18 and under and is run as a distinct part of the custodial estate, with those in the adult estate, which manages young adults alongside prisoners in older age groups. Understanding how health care access and needs differ is important, because the distinction between the two parts of the system is becoming increasingly blurred. Recently, population pressures in the adult estate have led to an increase in the number of young people aged 18 or over in the children’s secure estate, which will drastically alter the age profile of the children’s secure estate population.

A summary of the key findings and some considerations for policy-makers are provided below. We found that some of the biggest problems affecting the adult prison estate – violence and self-harm – have a disproportionate impact on young adults. We consider how the prison service can meet the needs of young people in custodial settings, and the benefits of providing tailored support for young adults in particular.

London: Nuffield Trust, 2023. 55p.

By Jennifer Peirce, Tara Dhanraj Roden, Sandhya Kajeepeta, Elizabeth Swavola, and Jesmeen Grewal

This report presents an analysis of women’s experiences with the local criminal legal system in Buncombe County, North Carolina: their pathways into and out of the jail, their living conditions and concerns during detention, and their perspectives on how services and systems in the county can improve. The underlying research project was part of the broader jail reduction work of the Safety and Justice Challenge (SJC) network. In 2018, the Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) selected Buncombe County as a Safety and Justice Challenge site with which to partner in identifying drivers of growth within the women’s jail population and opportunities to reduce the number of women in jail. Buncombe County has a population of 269,452 (as of April 2020) and covers 656 square miles, including the City of Asheville.1 The findings in this report are based on administrative data from the jail (January 2017– April 2021); surveys with 40 women, representing nearly all the women who were held in the jail in September 2021; and interviews with 21 women conducted by Vera staff via video calls. Although the findings are responsive and specific to the needs of women in Buncombe County, many of the recommendations, if implemented, can benefit all people who are involved in the local criminal legal system.+ Broadly, this report finds that women’s pathways into jail in Buncombe County—in line with national patterns—are shaped by economic instability and laws and policies that criminalize acts of survival and acts related to substance dependency.2 In general, there is an excessive use of police, jail detention, and community supervision for low-level charges that do not pose a public safety risk. There is a clear opportunity to reduce the use of criminal legal system resources to respond to these situations and invest instead in supportive community-based services, especially for women. The key findings and recommendations from this work are grouped into six themes: 1. the criminalization of poverty, 2. bail, 3. community supervision, 4. substance use, 5. jail conditions and costs, and 6. interagency coordination and communication.

New York: Vera Institute of Justice, 2022. 55p.

By Hilde T. Werminka, A. A. J. Bloklanda,b, J. Beenc, P. M. Schuyt, . N. Tollenaare and R. Apel;

Noncustodial sanctions may present an attractive way to reduce the prison population rate, but only when noncustodial sanc-tions meet custodial ones in terms of deterring recidivism. Using administrative criminal records data of all individuals convicted in the Netherlands in 2012, this study examines the effects of short-term imprisonment versus noncustodial sanctions on crime. We employ an instrumental variables approach to account for selection processes and to produce consistent estimates of the effects of imprisonment. Findings indicate that being sentenced to prison rather than a noncustodial sanction increases the prevalence of recidivism by 10 percentage points and increases recidivism rates by 1.07 registered crimes during a follow-up period of three years. Treatment effect heterogeneity analyses show that the detri-mental impact of imprisonment is most pronounced for first-time prisoners, and adult offenders, compared to repeat prisoners and young adult offenders.IntroductionReducing the prison population is one of the biggest challenges faced in the criminal justice system across countries worldwide. There are many good reasons to exercise restraint when it comes to imprisonment. For one, imprisoning people is an expensive enterprise, and the costs of imprisonment typically weigh heavy on the criminal justice budget (e.g. Phelps & Pager, 2016). To the extent that imprisonment maintains or even increases marginalization of the imprisoned population following their release, these direct costs may be dwarfed by imprisonment’s indirect societal costs

Justice Quarterly, April 2023.

By Jacob Harris, et al.

While there is a growing literature investigating the causes and consequences of the US prison boom—the tripling of prison facilities between 1970 and 2000—much less is known about current patterns of prison closures. We use novel data capturing the universe of prison closures (N=188) from 2000 to 2022 to identify and characterize what we term “the prison bust”—the period since 2000 when prison closures began to climb and eventually eclipse new prison building. We show that the prison bust is, in part, a consequence of development-oriented prison-building policies that aggressively used prisons to stimulate struggling local economies. The bust is primarily concentrated in the counties that pursued prison building most aggressively, reflecting a highly cyclical and reactionary pattern of prison placement and closure. We also show that, relative to counties with at least one prison but no closures, closures are concentrated in metro counties with stronger local economies and multiple prisons. Overall, we highlight the prison bust as an important new era in the history of US punishment and provide a new dataset for investigating its causes and consequences. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and policy implications of these findings.

Unpublished Paper, 2023. 36p.

By Miranda Davies, Lucina Rolewicz, Laura Schlepper and Femi Fagunwa

There were, on average, 83,000 people in prison in England and Wales at any one time last year, yet relatively little is known about prisoners’ physical health care needs; how and why they access hospital services; and whether their physical health needs are being adequately met. Drawing on over 110,000 patient hospital records for prisoners at 112 prisons in 2017–18, this study provides the most in-depth look to date at how prisoners’ health needs are being met in hospital. Prisoners use hospital services far less and miss more hospital appointments than the general population • Prisoners had 24% fewer inpatient admissions and outpatient attendances than the equivalent age and sex demographic in the wider population, and 45% fewer attendances at accident and emergency departments. • 40% of outpatient appointments for prisoners were not attended (32,987 appointments) – double the proportion of non-attended appointments in the general population. Our research found that the value of non-attended appointments by prisoners in 2017/18 where no advanced warning was given equated to around £2 million for the NHS. Prisoners have particular health needs related to violence, drug use and self-harm • Injury and poisoning were the most common reason for prisoners being admitted to hospital, accounting for 18% of cases (2,169 admissions) compared to 6% of all admissions in the general population (aged 15+). • Psychoactive substance use was recorded in more than 25% of all inpatient admissions by prisoners in 2017/18. Hospital data reveals potential lapses of care within prisons for certain groups of prisoners • Six prisoners gave birth either in prison or on their way to hospital, representing more than one in 10 of all women who gave birth during their prison stay. • There were 51 hospital admissions by 39 prisoners with diabetes as a result of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), an avoidable and potentially life-threatening complication of diabetes caused by lack of insulin. This analysis points to two key areas where more focused policy attention could result in improvements to prisoner health: improving prisoners’ access to hospital care and making better use of hospital data. We therefore make the following recommendations for the five public authorities involved in the National Partnership Agreement for Prison Healthcare – the Ministry of Justice, Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, Public Health England, the Department of Health and Social Care, and NHS England – as well as prisons, health care providers, commissioners, and the research community .

London: Nuffield Trust, 2020. 83p.

By Miranda Davies, Rachel Hutchings, Eilís Keeble and Laura Schlepper

The number of older people in prison in England and Wales is increasing, but prisons are not well set up to meet health care needs associated with ageing. Between 2010 and 2022, the number of prisoners aged 50 or older increased by 67% (from 8,263 to 13,835),2 and is predicted to increase to 14,800 by July 2025.3* Prisoners tend to be in poorer health than the general population, and this is particularly the case for older prisoners, who are considered to be ‘older’ from the age of 50 in recognition of their additional health care needs. Tough conditions in prison – regime constraints, poor living conditions and the threat of violence – disproportionately affect older prisoners, but these are not new problems. The extent to which the needs of older people in poor health can be met effectively in a prison setting is questionable, given the multiple competing priorities. For this work we used routinely collected hospital data to look at the health care needs of older people in prison in England. A summary of the key findings and considerations for policy-makers are provided below. We found significant health care needs associated with frailty among our older prisoner population. We consider the implications for the prison service of managing increasing numbers of older prisoners as the population continues to age.

London: Nuffield Trust, 2023. 51p.

By Susan McNeeley

Prior research found routine activities in prison affect risk of victimization among incarcerated people. However, most of this work is cross-sectional in nature and does not establish temporal order between the expected risk factors and victimization. To address this gap, the current study examines a snapshot population of individuals incarcerated in Minnesota state prisons on January 1, 2021, following them forward to examine violent victimization during a six-month follow-up period. Results of Cox regression models and negative binomial models showed several inprison activities (e.g., treatment, work, visitation, misconduct) and individual characteristics (e.g., race, age, mental and physical health) were related to risk of victimization and/or the number of violent incidents experienced. In addition, race-specific models showed the specific predictors of victimization vary across racial groups. The results confirm the utility of lifestyleroutine activities theory as a framework for understanding victimization in prisons.

St. Paul: Minnesota Department of Corrections, 2022. 37p.

By Ashley Nellis, Ph.D. and Liz Komar

In 2018, Congress passed and then-President Donald Trump signed into law the bipartisan First Step Act, a sweeping criminal justice reform bill designed to promote rehabilitation, lower recidivism, and reduce excessive sentences in the federal prison system. Lawmakers and advocates across both political parties supported the bill as a necessary step to address some of the punitive excesses of the 1980s and 1990s.

The First Step Act includes a range of sentencing reforms which made the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 retroactive,I enhanced judicial discretion, created earned time credits, increased good time credits, reduced certain mandatory minimum sentences, and expanded the safety valve that allows persons with minor prior convictions to serve less time than previously mandated.

The First Step Act also seeks to expand opportunities for people in federal prisons to participate in rehabilitative programming to support their success after release. The law aims to produce lower odds of recidivism by incentivizing incarcerated individuals to engage in rigorous, evidence-based rehabilitation and education programming. In exchange and based on a favorable assessment of risk to the community, they may earn an earlier opportunity for release to community corrections.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) reports promising results thus far. The recidivism rate among people who have benefitted from the law is considerably lower than those who were released from prison without benefit of the law. Among the nearly 30,000 individuals whose release has been expedited by the First Step Act, nearly nine in every 10 have not been rearrested or reincarcerated. This 12% recidivism rate lies in stark contrast to the more typical 45% recidivism rate among people released from federal prison.

Washington, DC: The Sentencing Project, 2023. 9p.