ICOPA XII
Howard League for Penal Reform
Creating a scandal:
Prison abolition and the policy agenda
King’s College London, 23-25 July 2008
1
What is punishment for?
Time for a restorative philosophy
of sentencing?
Martin Wright
2
What is crime?
• an action or omission (usually harmful) where
the legislature authorizes the state to take
action against the perpetrator if the parties
cannot resolve it themselves;
• and which, in addition, a court has classified
as falling within that definition.
3
What is punishment?
• deliberate infliction of a measure intended to
be painful, such as a fine or imprisonment.
• measures such as rehabilitation, reparation or
containment may deprive a person of time or
money, but that is not their primary purpose
4
Purposes of sentencing
CJA 2003, s. 142(1)
a) The punishment of offenders [? incl. to
express condemnation, impose retribution]
b) The reduction of crime, incl. deterrence
[?individual and general]
c) The reform and rehabilitation of offenders
d) The protection of the public
e) Reparation by offenders to persons affected
5
Problems with punishment
• Doesn’t work unless … (see Restoring respect
for justice, chapter 2)
• No fair way to decide how much (ibid. Ch. 5, 6)
• Unintended consequences
• Collateral damage
• Makes compliance harder
• Especially prison
6
Prison doesn’t work
Previous
1-yr re-offending rate,
custodial
adults convicted in Q 1 2005
sentences:
total n = 44,323
0
26.0
5
62.7
1
43.0
6-10
68.6
2
3
4
51.7
57.0
60.8
11+
78.3
Source: MoJ
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Amount of conventional sentences
a) condemnation
b) retribution
c) deter individual
d) deter others
e) rehabilitate individual
f) heal victim
g) public protection
no logical basis
no logical basis
conviction,
48 hours, ∞
conviction, ∞
? weeks, months,
not nec. prison
not relevant
no logical basis
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Reform conventional system
•
•
•
•
•
Justice re-investment
Gatekeeper: pre-sentence report
Identify offenders’ needs
Establish programme to meet needs
Funding linked to reduction in prison pop.
(transfer from prison budget)
Safeguards: clear selection criteria,
independent evaluation
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Restorative basis for sentences
a)
b)
e)
heal victim
hold individual
accountable
rehabilitate individ.
public protection,
enforcement
condemnation
f)
g)
reparation
deter others
c)
d)
R J, reparation, not nec. prison
R J, conviction
Rehab, not nec. prison, ? RJ
restrict liberty, restorative
detention
reparation, c’ty service
[? corrective (reparative) labour]
R J, work for victim or c’ty
prevention, conviction
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Aims: Sentencing Act 2002, NZ
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Promote sense of responsibility for it
Hold offender accountable for harm
Provide for interests of victim
Provide reparation for harm
Denounce conduct
Deter offender or others, protect community,
assist rehab, reintegration
g) Take account of any restorative outcomes
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How it would work
• Bring case straight to mediation centre, or
• Prosecutor diverts from CJS to R J conf., or
• For serious cases, court conviction, then R J
conference before sentence, which normally
endorses conference agreement, or
• R J before release from prison
• Use insights from R J process as impetus for social
reforms (see Froestad & Shearing in Mackay et al.,
below)
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What it needs
• R J services available nationwide (largely
provided by Third Sector)
• Learn from R J meetings about social deficits,
and tackle them
• Community resources to enable offender to
make reparation
• New philosophy of social relationships
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New philosophy of social relationships
• Not control by fear, force, threat of
punishment, stigma, ‘Don’t do as I do, do as I
tell you’, but
• Persuade, enable, include, role models,
deliberative decisions (coercion as last resort)
• Beginning with restorative problem-solving in
schools.
-=oOo=14
Websites
• www.restorativejustice.org.uk
[Restorative Justice Consortium]
• www.restorativejustice.org
[Prison Fellowship International, US]
• www.euforumrj.org
[European Forum for Restorative Justice]
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Recent publications
• L Walgrave. Restorative justice, self-interest and
responsible citizenship. 2008
• G Maxwell and J H Liu, eds. Restorative justice and
practices in New Zealand: towards a restorative
society. Wellington, NZ, 2007
• M Liebmann. Restorative justice: how it works.
2007
• M Zernova. Restorative justice: ideals and realities.
2007.
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Publications (cont’d)
• R Mackay et al., eds. Images of restorative justice
theory. Frankfurt am Main, 2007
• M Wright. Making good: prisons, punishment and
beyond. Reprinted with foreword by Vivien Stern.
2008 enquiries@watersidepress.co.uk
• -“Restoring respect for justice. 2nd ed with
foreword by Howard Zehr, 2008
• -“Justice for victims and offenders: a
restorative response to crime. 2nd ed, 1996
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