Read about the issues affecting people in different types of detention.
Recent thematic reports
Easier said than done: resolving prisoner requests
Drawing on 5,431 survey responses from inspections of adult men’s and women’s prisons, this report highlights the many problems prisoners have in resolving simple, everyday tasks.
Despite an expectation that prisoners sort out most of their day-to-day requests informally with officers on the wings, the survey responses revealed that a shortage of available officers and too little time out of cell often limited these opportunities. Prisoners relied instead on more formal, written ‘applications’ systems to get things done.
Time to care: what helps women cope in prison?
The rate of self-harm among women in prison has rocketed in the last 10 years and is now 8.5 times higher than in men’s jails. Rather than specific health care interventions, this thematic focuses on what support officers and leaders can offer women to reduce the likelihood of self-harm.
The paucity of regimes, the difficulties in enabling visits, and the lack of training or support for officers all contributed to a failure to help women cope. Staff spent a lot of their time helping women suffering acute crises, leaving little time to provide less intensive yet vital support for other women.
Children in custody report 2023–24
The 2023-24 Children in Custody report found more children felt unsafe than last year, and fewer said they were getting any education.
The report analysed survey findings from children living in young offender institutions (YOIs) and secure training centres (STCs) in England and Wales. The majority of children spent their time locked in their cells, with little done to address their offending. When they were able to mix with other children on the wings, this was often marred by conflict and violence.
Hot topic thematics
Making prisons purposeful
