Justice Is More Than Just Criminal Justice
Justice is more than justcriminal justicePerspectives on Criminal JusticeInstitutions and Citizen Participation
Justice is more than justcriminal justicePerspectives on Criminal JusticeInstitutions and Citizen ParticipationA pamphlet for the Howard League for Penal Reform byCormac Behan, Jennifer Sloan, Christopher Bennett, Joanna Shaplandand Stephen Farrall
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Justice is more than just criminal justiceExecutive summaryThis research was undertaken as part of the Howard League for Penal Reform’s Whatis Justice? symposium and sought to provide a snapshot of how people relate to thestate and participate in deliberations about justice and safety. In particular it looked atissues of confidence, trust and legitimacy; justice; and the role that the public wantedin decisions related to the criminal justice system.Overall the research shows a high level of trust in criminal justice institutionsincluding the police, magistrates and judiciary but notably, not Police and CrimeCommissioners (PCCs). Most identified a clear value in lay involvement in theseareas but maintained that there was a important role for professionals. Fears werevoiced that greater public engagement in decision making may affect the delivery ofjustice while equally acknowledging the potential benefits of local engagement andparticipation enabling local solutions.The research was undertaken in Sheffield in 2013-14. The sample of 25 (12 menand 13 women) were aged between 20 and 64 years from a range of BAMEgroups. There were differing employment status including students, working,unemployed and retired people. Each participant was interviewed using a semistructured questionnaire.Engagement with the criminal justice system General contentment with the status quo in particular the idea that it is good tobe judged by one’s peers as in the jury system. This type of engagement wasregard by most respondents as a civic duty. Sentiments were expressed relating to important decisions being madeby others who knew better and the need for objective correctness in suchdecisions. If there were greater public involvement, it was indicated that thisshould be in criminal justice processes rather than decision making. Desire for more involvement and greater democratic accountability to facilitategreater confidence in the criminal justice system and possibly local solutions. Concerns were raised about the public being encouraged to participate more,in particular, the potential time commitment, whether the right people would beinvolved, whether they would be representative of the local community, and thepossible motivations of those participating. Consideration was given to the relative inputs of both victims of crime andpeople with convictions including those who had experienced imprisonment.While the research identified overwhelming support for people with convictionsand former prisoners using their experience to enhance the criminal justiceprocess, fewer thought victims of crime should be actively involved due toconcerns about even-handedness.5
Police and Crime Commissioners 28% of the sample voted in the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCCs)elections – a greater proportion than the turnout nationally and in the researcharea which was 15%. People stated they voted out of a sense of duty rather than commitment to theelection of PCCs. Those who did not vote stated it was because of a lack of information and thepotential for the politicisation of the criminal justice system, and were not clearabout the independence of PCCs.The role of the state The most often stated function of the state, according to respondents, was todeliver safety particularly in public spaces. The state was also viewed as the guarantor of justice, not merely in terms ofcriminal justice, but also in terms of social justice.Citizenship Citizenship, in particular the desire to be a good, active citizen could beregarded as a motivating force to participate in civic institutions and processesincluding those engaged in justice. Respondents believed that while citizens areindependent and responsible for their actions, the state should encourage theinterdependence of citizens and provide appropriate support to engender cooperation and civic engagement. 6A majority of respondents supported the idea of prisoners voting, however, theissue was far from settled with strongly held, conflicting views being voicedincluding concern about those convicted of breaking the law being allowed tochoose who makes the law as well as acknowledging the connective potentialbetween prisoners and the community that voting symbolises and represents.
Justice is more than just criminal justice7
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Justice is more than just criminal justiceIntroductionCriminal Justice is an issue that is relevant in everyone’s lives in one way or another.Some watch it on television through series such as CSI or Orange is the NewBlack, others live and work with it every day. It has been stated often that publicconfidence in criminal justice is low, being much easier to damage than to enhance,and having knock on effects for legitimacy and cooperation with authorities (Houghet al., 2013). Research on confidence in the criminal justice system has tended tofind that the way people are treated is more important than the actual effectivenessof the system in terms of the trust afforded to it (Bradford and Myhill, 2015). Indeed,Hough et al. (2013: 7) have stated that:In a society where perceptions of institutions are shaped by a growingrange of media, there is a risk that strategies to improve the legitimacyof the justice system becomes little more than a public relations exercise– securing the right media messages, and ensuring that staff remain “onmessage” in their contact with the public. Such strategies of appearancemanagement may yield some short-term results, but there are inherentrisks in this approach given that it is about trust-building. This is becausewhen gaps between appearance and reality surface the costs to legitimacycan be very high indeed. In other words, improvements in trust have to beearned and not simply claimed.What people rarely discuss, however, is what ‘justice’ actually is, and how theyunderstand their positioning relative to it as citizens. For instance, are people happysimply to trust the criminal justice system to get on with it (if they do trust it)? Or dothey aspire to something more like active citizenship? Do they think that citizensshould do more to hold the (often hidden) system and its officials accountable?Do they think that greater public participation in criminal justice could be a goodthing? Whilst there has been much research discussing the role of the media(McNeely, 1995; Dowler, 2003), and how education (Tsoudis, 2000; Mandracchiaet al. 2013), and personal characteristics (Miller et al., 1986; Windsor, 2015) affectpublic perceptions of criminal justice, this is often focused on distinct groups andspecific areas of the criminal justice system such as policing (Hough et al., 2013),sentencing (Miller et al., 1986; Morgan, 2002; Stalans, 2002; Hough et al., 2013;Bennett, 2014a) and punishment (Mayhew and van Kesteren, 2002; Roberts andHough, 2002), rather than the system as a whole.This paper presents the results of the What is Justice?: Local Justice andParticipation research project, which is one element of a wider undertaking for theHoward League for Penal Reform as part of the What is Justice?: Re-imaginingPenal Policy initiative. The objective of the project was to undertake research intohow people relate to justice and the state (with particular reference to perceptionsof criminal justice institutions), and also to find out how they might respond to9
different ways of imagining the criminal justice system, including ways in which‘the public,’ or local people in particular, are given more control over what it does.When the question of greater public participation in criminal justice is raised, it mightbe expected that people would react with a mixture of a sense of acknowledgedresponsibility for what is done by criminal justice officials ‘in the name of the people,’on the one hand, and a fear of uncontrolled public sentiment on the other. Whetherthat is so, and the reasons for it, were amongst the issues we sought to understandbetter through this research.The research was conducted in Sheffield from November 2013 to March 2014.There were 13 female and 12 male interviewees (pseudonyms have been usedin the report to protect their real identities).1 They ranged in age from 20 to 64and were from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. They held an assortment of jobs,some were students, and others were retired or unemployed. As such, it took amuch broader approach to the task of researching perceptions regarding criminaljustice. Sheffield is a city in which a number of events have taken place thathave challenged public perceptions and legitimacy of criminal justice institutions,including police actions at the British Steel Coking plant at Orgreave during the1984-85 miners’ strike; the events that resulted in the death of 96 Liverpoolsupporters at Hillsborough Stadium; and the lack of action by various criminaljustice institutions and social services to protect children in nearby Rotherham.The main areas we focused on were:1. How people relate to criminal justice institutions;2. How much involvement in decision-making processes in the criminal justicesystem do people want?3. The lived reality of citizenship with specific regard to the beliefs and valuesunderpinning what is expected of ‘good citizens’.We explored these issues in one to one interviews with members of the public. Thefive key areas which the project examined were:a) engagement with the criminal justice system (the interviews probed for opinionson whether members of the public wanted greater or lesser involvement indecision-making roles within the criminal justice sphere);1 Interviews were conducted in a number of locations, including in respondents’ houses, the University ofSheffield and a local community centre. Respondents were informed that the study was being conducted bythe University of Sheffield, School of Law (with approval from the School’s research ethics committee) for theHoward League for Penal Reform. Each interviewee was initially provided with an information sheet outlining thedetails of the project. The research process was discussed with each interviewee before they were offered aconsent form to sign. Each of the interviews was recorded and transcribed.10
Justice is more than just criminal justiceb) Police and Crime Commissioners (the interviewees’ knowledge, opinions andperceptions of Police and Crime Commissioners);c) The role of the state (in matters of safety and justice);d) citizenship (the manner in which the interviewees conceptualized obligations andresponsibilities);e) prisoners and voting (the opinions of the interviewees on the subject of prisonershaving the vote).The interview schedule is reproduced at the end of this report in Appendix A.11
1.Engagement with the Criminal Justice SystemOne of the main motivations for undertaking this research was to examine people’sinvolvement in the criminal justice system (CJS), and the reasoning behind theirparticipation or non-engagement. The first set of questions focused on people’sperceptions of who should and should not be involved in the criminal justice system,looking at different features of the process, including the roles of victims, prisoners, exprisoners and the general public.The general public’s involvement in the CJSThere are a variety of ways for members of the public to get involved in the workingsof the criminal justice system. As well as the multitude of voluntary organizations thatwork within the field, members of the public can be called for jury service (although thishas its issues in terms of fairness and the composition of the jury (see Thomas, 2010));or can volunteer to be part of the official workings of the system. For example, as of31 March 2014 there were 17,789 Special Constables in the 43 forces of England andWales, 30.8% of them women, and 10.8% from minority ethnic backgrounds (HomeOffice, 2014). These are seen by some to be more representative of the communitiesthey work in than ‘standard’ police officers (HMIC, 2014: 66). Magistrates too area way for members of the public to become involved in criminal justice, althoughcompositionally they struggle with regard to ethnic diversity and representation of theyounger members of the community (who may have greater age parity with thoseundergoing trial and/or sentence) (Judiciary, 2015). In addition their numbers are falling,potentially indicative of public views of the role (BBC, 2014).Participants were asked whether the general public should have greater involvementin the criminal justice system. Their responses were evenly split. In general therewere very positive views of the existing elements of the criminal justice system thatencourage public involvement such as juries and magistrates. Jess2 (female, 20)believed that in terms of citizen participation in criminal justice institutions:They already have that don’t they? Are they magistrates? I think it’s quite goodthat they have something like that, because it makes the community feel moreinvolved in what’s going on in their area [ ] you have like voluntary policemenas well. So having people in the police volunteering who are [ ] meant to bepart of the community and then having people [ ] in the justice system whoare also volunteering and also part of the community sort of makes it feel likeit is more of a community effort, I suppose, as opposed to just having likeseparate organisations, like organising how justice is administered in society.2 All names are pseudonyms to preserve anonymity.12
Justice is more than just criminal justiceElizabeth (female, 20) agreed. “I suppose I do take the view that the old idea ofbeing judged by your pe
Criminal Justice is an issue that is relevant in everyone’s lives in one way or another. Some watch it on television through series such as CSI or Orange is the New Black, others live and work with it every day. It has been stated often that public confidence in criminal justice is low, being much easier to damage than to enhance,
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