Recently in criminal justice Category

by Helen Bonnick, a supervisor of school-home support workers and a social worker

A few weeks ago the headlines were all about the tragic story of Fiona Pilkington, the torment she suffered at the hands of local 'yobs' and the 'national debate' supposedly sparked by her suicide. Phone-ins as well as news programmes invited listeners to broadcast their own experiences of being bullied or feeling intimidated. Was I the only one to feel despair at hearing of responses such as "they'll grow out of it", or "just ignore them and they'll go away". I was just waiting for someone to have said, "it'll harden you up". Have we really not moved on at all in the last 20 years?

Older prisoners are growing in number yet there are few services to help them manage chronic illnesses or end of life, writes Sally Wentworth-James

by Richard Garside

It is easy to see the main challenge facing the voluntary sector largely as one of adaptation to the contract culture. "The reform of public sector provision will require charities to be more business-minded than ever," the chief executive of the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations, Stephen Bubb, has said. But what are the nature of the changes that voluntary sector organisations are being asked to embrace? What are the consequences for their identity and values, mission and independence, as well as for their beneficiaries?

by Geoff Dobson

Much attention has understandably been focussed on the period following Dano Sonnex's release from prison and missed opportunities to recall him to custody before he and Nigel Farmer brutally murdered Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez. He was 23 at the time of these offences having first received a prison sentence at the age of 17. The four reports on the Ministry of Justice website allow us to examine aspects of his behaviour and treatment during his time in custody.

By Penelope Gibbs, Prison Reform Trust

 

He who pays the piper calls the tune. Or at least has greater influence over the tune. If local authorities paid for child custody, they would surely gain more control over where children are placed and the quality of regimes. And have a greater incentive to stop children being imprisoned. The government's new Youth Crime Action Plan has flirted with the idea of delegating the custody budget but not championed it. It proposes making the costs of custody more visible to inform debate "on whether, in the long term, local authorities should be responsible for the placement and funding of custodial placements".

by Allan Norman

"Prisoners to be chipped like dogs" - this was the lead story in the Independent on Sunday on 13th January. And if prisoners, what about others who feature habitually among our service users, including people detained under the Mental Health Act, people with dementia and related conditions, people subject to immigration control and liable to be removed. I found the story horrific, it made my stomach churn. Why?