Work-related wellbeing in UK prison officers: a benchmarking approach

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to examine the well-being of UK prison officers by utilising a benchmarking approach. Design/methodology/approach-The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Stress Indicator Tool is widely used in the UK to assess key psychosocial hazards in the workplace encompassing demands, control, support from managers and co-workers, relationship quality, role and change management. This study utilises this approach to examine the extent to which a sample of UK prison officers meets the HSE recommended minimum standards for the management of work-related well-being. Levels of mental health and job satisfaction in the sector are also assessed using measures with extensive occupational norms. The psychosocial hazards that make the strongest contribution to mental health and job satisfaction are also considered. Findings-Respondents reported lower levels of well-being for all of the hazard categories than recommended. Moreover, mental health and job satisfaction were considerably poorer among prison officers than other occupational groups within the emergency and security services in the UK. Considerable variation was found in the psychosocial hazards that predicted mental health and job satisfaction. Practical implications-The high levels of stressors and strains experienced by UK prison officers gives serious cause for concern. Priority areas for interventions to enhance well-being in the sector are considered and areas for future research discussed. Originality/value-This study highlights the wide-ranging benefits of a benchmarking approach to investigate work-related stressors and strains at the sector level

Training probation officers in case formulation for personality disordered offenders

Background: The recent UK Strategy on Managing High Risk of Serious Harm Offenders with Severe Personality Disorder proposes a significant role for Offender Managers (OMs) completing case formulations on personality disordered (PD) offenders. However, there is very little evidence as to whether Offender Managers can be taught to carry out case formulation. Aim: The primary aims of this study were to devise and implement a training programme to teach Offender Managers to carry out case formulations, and assess their subsequent ability to do so. A secondary aim was to assess whether the training led to changes in OMs’ attitudes towards working with PD offenders. Method: A five day training programme was delivered to 20 Offender Managers, whose ability to carry out case formulation was assessed before and after the training using a 10 point quality checklist. Attitudes towards PD were also assessed before and after. Qualitative feedback relating to the training was used to provide further insight into the findings. Results: Offender Managers showed a significant improvement in their ability to carry out case formulation following training with 7 out of the 10 quality domains on the quality checklist rated as at least ‘satisfactory’ post-training. Qualitative feedback highlighted reasons for some of the shortfalls in two of the three areas that did not show improvement. Improvements were shown in attitudes towards working with PD offenders in two out of three domains. Conclusion: This study provides some evidence for Offender Managers’ ability to carry out case formulation following training, improvements in attitudes towards working with PD offenders and difficulties specific to this addition to their current role

Transforming Women’s Rehabilitation? An Early Assessment of Gender-Specific Provision in Three Community Rehabilitation Companies

Following the implementation of the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014, the Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) reforms expanded the offender management market to include several private providers, known as Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). The TR reforms have been the subject of intense debate since the outset. Political, academic and campaign-group commentary has critiqued the rapid implementation of the new agenda and examined its likely impact on existing services (particularly those run by the charitable sector). A growing body of research has also questioned the likely impact of the legislation on community provision for women, a field already beset with precarious funding streams. Lamenting the ‘lack of strategic focus’ on women, a recent review by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMIP) revealed that ‘dedicated funding for women’s community services has virtually disappeared, and provision is mixed and uncertain’ (2016a: 4). Drawing on 36 interviews conducted with probation officers and practitioners (keyworkers) working for women’s services, this paper validates such concerns. While the supposed subjects of an established government strategy, it is particularly regretful to report such findings in the tenth anniversary year of Baroness Corston’s seminal report

Rolling back the prison estate: The pervasive impact of macroeconomic austerity on prisoner health in England

Prisons offer policymakers an opportunity to address the pre-existing high prevalence of physical and mental health issues among prisoners. This notion has been widely integrated into international and national prison health policies, including the Healthy Prisons Agenda, which calls for governments to address the health needs of prisoners and safeguard their health entitlement during imprisonment, and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 concerning reducing inequality among disadvantaged populations.However, the implementation of the austerity policy in the United Kingdom since the re-emergence of the global financial crisis in 2008 has impeded this aspiration. This interdisciplinary paper critically evaluates the impact of austerity on prison health. The aforementioned policy has obstructed prisoners’ access to healthcare, exacerbated the degradation of their living conditions, impeded their purposeful activities and subjected them to an increasing level of violence.This paper calls for alternatives to imprisonment, initiating a more informed economic recovery policy, and relying on transnational and national organizations to scrutinize prisoners’ entitlement to health. These systemic solutions could act as a springboard for political and policy discussions at national and international forums with regard to improving prisoners’ health and simultaneously meeting the aspirations of the Healthy Prisons Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals

The central institutions of Youth Justice:Government bureaucracy and the importance of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales

The government’s recent ‘bonfire of the quangos’ put at issue the future of the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (YJB). Drawing on research with YJB staff, ministers and civil servants, this article argues a central body like the YJB is crucial for youth justice. The institutions of government bureaucracy are an important part of the penal field in which policy is produced. An ‘arm’s length’ body outside the civil service allows central decision making to be directed by expertise and child-centred principles. However, the same features that make the YJB important also make it both high risk for ministers and difficult to defend

Interpretation, translation and intercultural communication in refugee status determination procedures in the UK and France

This article explores the interplay between language and intercultural communication within refugee status determination procedures in the UK and France, using material taken from ethnographic research that involved a combination of participant observation, semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis in both countries over a two-year period (2007–2009). It is concerned, in particular, to examine the role played by interpreters in facilitating intercultural communication between asylum applicants and the different administrative and legal actors responsible for assessing or defending their claims. The first section provides an overview of refugee status determination procedures in the UK and France, introducing the main administrative and legal contexts of the asylum process within which interpreters operate in the two countries. The second section compares the organisation of interpreting services, codes of conduct for interpreters and institutional expectations about the nature of interpreters’ activity on the part of the relevant UK and French authorities. The third section then explores some of the practical dilemmas for interpreters and barriers to communication that exist in refugee status determination procedures in the two countries. The article concludes by emphasising the complex and active nature of the interpreter's role in UK and French refugee status determination procedures

Is metal theft committed by organized crime groups, and why does it matter?

Using the example of metal theft in the United Kingdom, this study used mixed methods to evaluate the accuracy of police estimates of the involvement of organised crime groups (OCGs) in crime. Police estimate that 20-30% of metal theft is committed by OCGs, but this study found that only 0.5% of metal thieves had previous convictions for offences related to OCGs, that only 1.3% were linked to OCGs by intelligence information, that metal thieves typically offended close to their homes and that almost no metal thefts involved sophisticated offence methods. It appears that police may over-estimate the involvement of OCGs in some types of crime. The reasons for and consequences of this over-estimation are discussed

Palliative care in UK prisons: practical and emotional challenges for staff and fellow prisoners

Despite falling crime rates in England and Wales over the past 20 years, the number of prisoners has doubled. People over the age of 50 constitute the fastest growing section of the prison population, and increasing numbers of older prisoners are dying in custody. This article discusses some of the issues raised by these changing demographics and draws on preliminary findings from a study underway in North West England. It describes the context behind the rise in the numbers of older prisoners; explores the particular needs of this growing population; and discusses some of the practical and emotional challenges for prison officers, health care staff, and fellow prisoners who are involved in caring for dying prisoners in a custodial environment

Re-evaluating post-conviction disclosure: A case for ‘better late than never’

This article contends that the legal position regarding the scope of post-conviction disclosure duties ought to be revisited. First, it will discuss the leading Supreme Court case on this issue Nunn v Chief Constable of Suffolk Police and will argue that the decision warrants reconsideration as it is grounded in flawed assumptions that cannot be sustained. Second, it will make the case for strengthening the rights of defendants to access material post-trial, particularly in a climate of austerity where more defendants are relying on university projects and other charitable organisations to assist them in appealing against their conviction. Third, the article will suggest that consideration is given to proposals in an ‘Open Justice Charter’ to promote fairness and transparency in the criminal justice system and, furthermore, will suggest that an independent disclosure agency ought to be established to deal with criminal disclosure issues pre and post-trial

The probation service in England and Wales: A decade of radical change or more of the same?

This article reviews developments in probation in England and Wales since 2010, a decade in which services were exposed to the logic of competition and profit. In 2014, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government’s Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) reforms promised an end to a top-down, target-centric culture of state intervention by outsourcing services for low-to-medium risk offenders to 21 privately-owned Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). And yet, just four years after the reforms were implemented, the Conservative government announced that CRCs’ contracts would be terminated, with all offender management services returned to the public sector. With a focus on the private sector, the article argues that radical change to the probation service’s structure has entrenched a focus on centrally-administered performance targets and audit. In other words, contrary to the decentralising rhetoric at the core of TR, the decade has in many ways produced more of the same managerialism that the reforms were presented as a means to displace. The result has been a general decline in the quality of probation services