Irish Penal Reform Trust

Prevention and Early Intervention

Crime cannot be viewed as a social problem in isolation from deeper social and economic issues. Understanding and responding to offending behaviour is a complex issue. There is no one ‘cause’ and no single solution; consequently one-dimensional approaches are unlikely to produce results. Currently, the Irish criminal justice system is spending increasing and wasteful amounts of scarce resources with poor results in reducing crime, when modest investments in under-resourced communities would have greater positive effects in reducing offending, as well as producing wider social benefits.

To this end, IPRT is campaigning for a shift in justice resources to prevention and early intervention, in other words: "Shifting Focus: from Criminal Justice to Social Justice."

The case for this shift is strong: as the exhaustive work of bodies like the Washington State Institute for Public Policy shows, there are endless benefits to be gained from taking more constructive approaches to both adult and youth offending. A focus on the underlying difficulties – mental health, addiction, educational disadvantage, poverty – is demonstrably more likely to be effective in addressing the dreadful human cost of crime.

Moreover, against the backdrop of enormous, increasing and endless expenditure on prisons and the criminal justice system as a whole, the case for shifting even a proportion of these resources to a social justice model is undeniable – especially when coupled with the ineffectiveness of the current approach. As research has shown, when specific programmes reduce offending, as well as lessening the social harm of crime, they also save money for the State.

Shifting Focus_coverWe have been gathering the proof that prevention and early intervention works here.

See also our Shifting Focus campaign section.

From Justice to Welfare: The Case for Investment in Prevention and Early Intervention

23rd September 2010

A report by Candy Murphy, commissioned by IPRT, Barnardos and IAYPIC, outlining the evidence in favour of shifting resources from the criminal justice system to a system which ensures social justice.

Community Mediation Works: The State of 'Anti-Social Behaviour' in Working Class Communities

23rd September 2010

Community Mediation Works have released a new report reflecting upon the experiences of people in communities in Ireland that have been affected by 'anti-social behaviour'.

UK report highlights need for emphasis on children's health

16th September 2010

An NHS-commissioned report released this month is critical of the low priority of children's health services and called for integration with education and social services spending in order to promote children's well-being.

Punishing Disadvantage: a profile of children in custody

14th September 2010

A new report from the Prison Reform Trust and the Institute for Criminal Policy Research provides compelling evidence for the existence of pathways from disadvantage to the prison.

UK: A Joint Inspection of Youth Crime Prevention (report)

9th September 2010

HMI Constabulary, HMI Probation, Care Quality Commission and Healthcare Inspectorate Wales have produced a report entitled 'A Joint Inspection of Youth Crime Prevention'. The report reveals a number of positive findings but also emphasises that the work to turn children away from crime needs to be more focused.

Collaboration with Courts: Reducing Imprisonment Rates for Young People

7th September 2010

Children and Young People Now reports on some youth justice schemes in England which are successfully reducing the number of young people imprisoned.

Irish Times: Poverty, Education, Mental Health and Homelessness

7th September 2010

The Irish Times highlights issues which will take centre stage at the upcoming 'Shifting Focus' conference.

Catch 22: Crime Prevention

6th September 2010

Catch-22, a charity devoted to working with children in need, presents its views on youth offending and what really works.

Report: Promoting and protecting offenders’mental health and wellbeing

24th August 2010

(England & Wales) A newly published policy document shows that there is a link between mental illness and offending that cannot be ignored; the paper sets forth a nuanced agenda for policy changes that can tackle this underlying cause of crime.

England & Wales: Government launches review into the effectiveness of early intervention

28th July 2010

The government has launched an independent review into how early intervention projects can improve the lives of the UK's most vulnerable children.

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Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.

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