Stories and reflections from staff and students of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research
Effects on those who deliver services to justice involved populations By Prof Michele Burman, Prof Robin A. Robinson and Dr Annie Crowley Although largely out of government and media frames of ‘essential workers’, and within a wider context of rapidly diminishing resources and precarious funding, many community-based voluntary organisations working with criminal justice-involved groups are … Continue reading Working Under Lockdown
By Professor Laura Piacentini, University of Strathclyde On hearing the Scottish government announcement, made on the 18th of March, that schools in Scotland would close indefinitely from the 20th of March, and that we would then enter a period of lockdown because of the epic human catastrophe called Covid-19, I entered a period of what … Continue reading Living Under Covid-19
Domestic abuse and sexual violence: the responses and realities provoked by COVID-19 By Dr Oona Brooks-Hay, Prof Michele Burman & Dr Lisa Bradley, University of Glasgow The new social reality imposed by COVID-19 brings particular concerns for women and children living with domestic abuse and sexual violence, and for the support services that they rely … Continue reading Gender Based Violence in a Pandemic
By Prof Fergus McNeill, University of Glasgow With prisons described by epidemiologists as incubators of disease, it is obvious and entirely right that much of the focus of criminologists and other criminal justice activists in recent weeks has been on the urgent need to decarcerate. The challenges and opportunities for social work services have also … Continue reading Penal supervision in a pandemic
By Dr Liz Aston, Edinburgh Napier University Dramatic changes to people’s lives globally, resulting from COVID-19, are having an impact on crime and the criminal justice system (CJS). As the police are the gatekeepers to the CJS it is important to consider the implications for policing. These sweeping societal changes shed light on a number … Continue reading Covid-19 Implications for Policing
By Anonymous Prisoner 23 March 2020: A week ago when people in Italy were dying and Boris was talking about herd immunity, in prison we were business as usual. “What a larf this corona lark is” – idiots sneaking up on each other and giving people surprise hugs and shaking every hand they could grab… … Continue reading On the inside: A prisoner speaks about Covid-19
By Dr Kirsty Deacon, University of Strathclyde There are currently 7,339 people in prison in Scotland. Almost all will have family members, whether more traditional nuclear family, wider extended family, or non-blood relations who fulfil this role. While the current lockdown is not comparable to serving a prison sentence, it does, perhaps, give us some … Continue reading On the Outside: Families of Prisoners and Covid-19
Behind the curve: Can justice systems get ahead of COVID 19 and avoid a prisons crisis? By Dr Cara Jardine, University of Strathclyde The COVID 19 pandemic has brought dramatic change to the lives of millions across the world in just a few short weeks. In the UK, the last 72 hours have seen stringent … Continue reading Behind the Curve: Prison and Covid-19
By Professor Mike Hough, Birkbeck University of London This blog is based on academic work completed by Prof Hough along with colleagues listed at the bottom of the article. In the run-up to December’s election, law and order re-emerged as a hot topic. The political parties entered a bidding war for extra police officers, and … Continue reading Do we need more or less stop-and-search?
