Security, safety, self and justice

At a time when safety, security and justice are increasingly commodified and when the boundaries between personal and public responsibilities are changing, our research necessarily engage with personal identities and security choices, including the private provision of criminal justice, community safety services and individual experiences of delivering justice or undergoing punishment.

Often, this research is underpinned by qualitative research methods and informed by critical and cultural criminologies, prioritising perceptions of safety, crime prevention and security and experiences of criminal justice or community safety interventions. 

peter_squires_01

Professor Peter Squires
Professor of Criminology and Public Policy

Public sensitivity

One aspect of the growing inequality of recent years has been a heightened public sensitivity to insecurity, risk and disorder.

Our research addresses the issues of safety and security, personal protection, violence reduction, crime prevention and disorder management. Even as crime statistics fall, public perception means that these concerns still dominate, manifesting in the precautions people take, their fears and attitudes, and in the political salience of security and disorder in politics as governments attempt to deliver effective (including cost-effective) safety policies.

We consider attitudes towards questions of safety at home, violence reduction, risk management in the community, sentencing and the role of the probation service in managing offenders. On a more global scale, we examine the perceived need to ensure personal protection, to defend oneself, which has driven up demand for gun ownership, even as the Pistorius case in South Africa exposes the dangerous potential of keeping firearms in the home. 

policeman-with-gun

Probation: risk, change and communities

Researchers have investigated several key projects involving probation, risk and the community, as well as anticipating how impending privatisation of a large part of the probation service will impact upon the delivery of ‘punishment in the community’.

Working with Dr. Wendy Fitzgibbon from London Metropolitan University, Professor John Lea has explored how centralised national offender management targets have often hampered effective rehabilitation initiatives within communities. In addition, the role and attitudes of probation officers in riot-affected areas and ‘riot-criminalised’ clients have been analysed.

Suzie Clift has examined the ways in which the risks associated with working with offenders have distorted both notions of rehabilitation and the practice of working with people with multiple, complex needs. She considers offender risk assessment implications for partnership working and the impact upon the rehabilitation effectiveness of the probation service.

CCTV: public safety and crime prevention

From the mid-1990s, Brighton researchers have been at the forefront of evaluating the crime reduction effectiveness of public area CCTV cameras. Over the years, we have undertaken eight CCTV evaluation projects in the South East and using the findings of EPSRC-funded research contributed to the debate over priorities, ethics and privacy in CCTV initiatives.

In 2010, we were invited to participate in a pan-European initiative of the European Forum for Urban Safety (EFUS), which was tasked with creating a European Charter for CCTV project development and use. We were asked to provide an overview of research lessons regarding CCTV effectiveness whilst demonstrating the benefits of effective management, monitoring and scheme evaluation. Our work, Evaluating CCTV: Lessons from a Surveillance Culture, helped underpin the European CCTV Charter and was incorporated into the supporting EFUS documentation when the charter was formally launched in Rotterdam. Many members of the EFUS partnership have adopted the EU charter.

Research projects

Prison architecture, design and technology

Research into the impact of prison design on the experience of imprisonment

CCTV: Lessons from a surveillance culture

Research contributed to a European Charter for CCTV project development and use

Domestic fire safety evaluation

A three-year evaluation of fire safety home visit initiatives for the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service

Protest networks and the Pitchford inquiry

Research scrutinising the Pitchford inquiry into undercover policing in England and Wales

Rehabilitation by design: Influencing change in prisoner behaviour

Research outlining practical recommendations relating to the current challenges facing the prison system

Designing ‘healthy’ prisons for women: incorporating trauma-informed care and practice into prison planning and design

Research into the guiding principles of ‘gender-responsive’ design for women’s prisons

Research team

Dr Peter Kennison

Professor John Lea

Dr Raphael Schlembach

Greta Squire

Professor Peter Squires

Output

Books

Jewkes, Y. and Moran, D. (in press) 'Criminology, carceral geography and prison architecture', in A. Liebling, S. Maruna and L. McAra (eds.) Oxford Handbook of Criminology 6th edition, Oxford: Oxford University

Moran, D., Turner, J. and Jewkes, Y. (in press) 'Becoming Big Things: Building events and the architectural geographies of incarceration in England and Wales', in Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers

Jewkes, Y., Moran, D. and Slee, E. (in press) 'The visual retreat of the prison: non-places for non-people', in M. Brown and E. Carrabine (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Visual Criminology, Abingdon: Routledge

Grant, E. and Jewkes, Y. (in press) 'Designs on punishment: evolving models of spatial confinement in Australia and the USA' The Prison Journal 95 (2) 223-243

Moran, D., Jewkes, Y. and Turner, J (2016) 'Prison architecture and carceral space' in Y. Jewkes, B. Crewe and J. Bennett (Eds.) Handbook on Prisons, revised 2nd edition, Abingdon: Routledge

Moran, D. and Jewkes, Y. (2015) 'Linking the carceral and the punitive state: Researching prison architecture, design, technology and the lived experience of carceral space' Annales de Géographie 702-703: 163-184.

Jewkes, Y. and Moran, D. (2015) 'The paradox of the "green" prison: sustaining the environment or sustaining the penal complex?' Theoretical Criminology

Moran, D (2015) 'Carceral Geography: Spaces and Practices of Incarceration' Ashgate, Farnham

Jewkes, Y. (2015) 'Fear-suffused hell-holes: the architecture of extreme punishment' in K. Reiter and A. Koenig (eds.) Extraordinary Punishment: An Empirical Look at Administrative Black Holes in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, London: Palgrave

Jewkes, Y. (2014) 'Afterword: Abolishing the Architecture and Alphabet of Fear' in Mathiesen, T. The Politics of Abolition Revisited, Oslo: Norwegian Universities Press

Moran, D. and Jewkes, Y. (2014) 'Green' Prisons: Rethinking the 'Sustainability' of the Carceral Estate Annual Special Issue Social Geography 'Criminality and carcerality across boundaries': Geogr. Helv., 69, 345-353.

Turner, J. (2014) Introduction: Criminality and Carcerality Across Boundaries Annual Special Issue Social Geography 'Criminality and carcerality across boundaries': Geogr. Helv., 69, 321-323.

Jewkes, Y. and Moran, D. (2014) Should prison architecture be brutal, bland or beautiful?, Justice Matters, 2 (1) 8-10.

Jewkes, Y. and Moran, D. (2014) 'Bad design breeds violence in sterile megaprisons', The Conversation, 31 January 2014

Jewkes, Y. (2014) 'Punishment in black and white: Penal 'hell-holes', popular media and mass incarceration', Atlantic Journal of Communication special issue on 'Reframing Race and Justice in the Age of Mass Incarceration' 22 (1): 42-60

Jewkes, Y. (2014) 'An Introduction to "doing prison research differently', Qualitative Inquiry 20 (5)

Jewkes, Y. (2013) 'Penitentiary systems in the era of Internet services', Laboratorium: Russian Review of Social Science, 5 (3) 125-133.

Jewkes, Y. (2013) 'Penal aesthetics and the pains of imprisonment' in J. Simon, N. Temple and R. Tobe (eds.) Architecture and Justice, Farnham: Ashgate

Jewkes, Y. (2013) 'On carceral space and agency', in D. Moran, N. Gill and D. Conlon, (eds.) Carceral Spaces: Mobility & Agency in Imprisonment & Migrant Detention, Farnham: Ashgate

Presentations

Jewkes, Y. (2016) Keynote speaker, Westminster Legal Policy Forum Keynote Seminar, London, 'Priorities for prisons policy in England and Wales - the context for reform', 18 April

Jewkes, Y. (2016) Keynote speaker, EuroPris - Prisons of the Future workshop, The Hague Netherlands, 'Prisons and humanity', 3 March

Jewkes, Y. (2015) Invited speaker, University of Birmingham Law School, ' Prison architecture, design and technology and the lived experience of carceral space', 27 November

Jewkes, Y. (2015) Plenary speaker, International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) Melbourne, Australia, 'Designing punishment: balancing security, creativity and humanity in contemporary correctional systems', 30 October

Jewkes, Y., Moran, D. and Turner, J. (2015) Presentation/workshop to NOMS Wales, Wrexham, North Wales, 14 April

Turner, J. (2015) 'Getting the green light for a grey area: the relationship between security, aesthetics and well-being in custodial space' at Health and Wellbeing in Prison Populations Workshop, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, 11 September.

Jewkes, Y., Moran, D. and Turner, J. (2015) Chair and panellists: A conversation: criminology and carceral geography at The Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, Porto, 2-5 September.

Jewkes, Y., Moran, D. and Turner, J. (2015) 'Prison architecture, design and technology: "fear-suffused environments" or potential to rehabilitate?' at The Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, Porto, 2-5 September.

Turner, J., Moran, D. and Jewkes, Y. 'Shaping 'inhabitation': the complexities of prison design and prison building' at The Nordic Geographers Meeting, Tallinn, 15-19 June.

Turner, J., Moran, D. and Jewkes, Y. 'Components of the carceral: The lived experience of prison design' at The Annual Conference of the Association of American Geographers, Chicago, IL, 21-25 April (with Dominique Moran and Yvonne Jewkes).

Moran, D., Turner, J. and Jewkes, Y. 'Becoming big things: Building events and the architectural geographies of incarceration in England and Wales' at The Annual Conference of the Association of American Geographers, Chicago, IL, 21-25 April.

Turner, J., Moran, D. and Jewkes, Y. 'From piss pots to paint pots: Prison design and carceral space' at ESC Working Group, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, 27 March 2015.

Jewkes, Y. 'Designing prisons, competing perspectives: who is the "client" in the commissioning process?' KRUS (Correctional Service of Norway), 22 January 2015.

Jewkes, Y. 'Prison Architecture, Design and Technology' Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons, London, 28 January 2015

Jewkes, Y. and Moran, D. 'Designing punishment: competing tensions in prison architecture, design and technology', CCR, University of Sheffield Law School, 3 December 2014.

Jewkes, Y. and Moran, D. 'Prison architects as moral agents: is it possible to design a 'healthy' prison?, ASC conference, San Francisco, USA, 19 November 2014.

Jewkes, Y. 'The visual aesthetics and an-aesthetics of prison architecture and design', ASC conference, San Francisco, USA, 19 November 2014.

Moran, D. 'Troubling Institutions: Prisons and the Design of Carceral Space', Troubling Institutions workshop, University of Glasgow, 11 November 2014.

Jewkes, Y. 'Fear-suffused environments: the visual aesthetics and an-aesthetics of prison architecture and design', ESRC Visual Criminology seminar series, Keele University, 24 October 2014.

Jewkes, Y. 'The architect's dilemma: Should new prisons be brutal, bland or beautiful?', ANZSOC conference, University of Sydney, Australia, October 2014.

Jewkes, Y. Griffith University Brisbane, Australia, 'Prison architects as moral agents: is it possible to design a 'healthy' high-security prison?', 29 September 2014.

Moran, D. 'Carceral Geography: Spaces and Practices of Incarceration', Presentation to the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto, March 2014.

Jewkes, Y. 'The new architecture of incarceration: humane punishment, hidden pain?', International keynote speech, Informa Prison Planning & Design conference, Melbourne, Australia, December 2013

Jewkes, Y. 'Prison architecture, design and technology: a comparative approach', European Society of Criminology conference, Budapest, Hungary, September 2013.

Media

Dominique Moran at the Curious Connections: Design and Punishment event at the Tower of London [14 April 2015]

Yvonne Jewkes on The Design Dimension, BBC Radio 4 [broadcast Tuesday 18 November 2014]

Yvonne Jewkes in The Conversation

Yvonne Jewkes in The Independent, How to build better prisons: New designs and a new look at their purpose [7 December 2015]
More publications

Squires, P (2014) . London: Routledge.

Squires, P (2010) Evaluating CCTV: Lessons from a Surveillance Culture European Forum for Urban Safety: Citizens, Cities and Video Surveillance Programme and EFUS CCTV Charter. Launched in Rotterdam, May.

Squires, P and Kennison, P (2010) Shooting to Kill?: Policing, Firearms and Armed Response. Chichester: Wiley/ Blackwell.

Squires, P (2008) 'Gun Crime': A Review of Evidence and Policy. Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. Whose Justice? series (with Enver Solomon and Roger Grimshaw). London: Kings College.

Squires, P (2000) Gun Culture or Gun Control? : Firearms, Violence and Society. London: Routledge.

Book chapters

Clift, S (2012) Risk assessment and the practice of actuarial criminal justice. In: Pycroft and Clift (Eds) Risk and Rehabilitation. Bristol: The Policy Press.

Squires, P (2011) Young people and weaponisation. In: B. Goldson (Ed) Youth in Crisis: Gangs, Territoriality and Violence. Cullompton: Willan.

Clift, S (2010) Working together to manage risk of serious harm. In: Pycroft and Gough (Ed) Multi-Agency Working in Criminal Justice. Bristol: The Policy Press.

Journal articles

Lea, J and Fitzgibbon, W (2010) Police, probation and the bifurcation of community. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice 49 (3) pp. 215-230.

Squires, P (2009) The knife crime epidemic and British politics. British Politics 4 (1) pp. 127-157.

Reports

Squires, P, Oldfield, M, Silvestri, A and Grimshaw, R (2009) Selective literature review on children and young people's involvement in gun and knife crime - Final Report. Centre for Crime and Justice Studies. London: Kings College.

Sources/links

in The Guardian

Firebrake (Wales)

Collaborations

Sussex Police, the European Forum for Urban Safety (EFUS)

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS)

Metropolitan Police Service (MPS)

London Borough of Sutton

East Brighton Community Partnership (EB4U)

York University, Toronto

Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO)

National Ballistics Intelligence Service (NABIS)

Sussex and Surrey Probation Trust

Eleven Million: (The Office of the Children’s Commissioner for England)

The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies

Channel 4 Television

Dr Dominique Moran, University of Birmingham

>Dr Jen Turner, University of Leicester

Funding

ESFRS (£80,000 over three years)

EPSRC (Three large collaborative research grants)

A series of eight CCTV projects in London and the South East (£65,000)

ESRC (£728,214)

Awards, recognition, impact

2016: Professor Yvonne Jewkes will open the Westminster Legal Policy Forum on Prisons in England and Wales - Investment, Governance and Rehabilitation.

2014: Professor Yvonne Jewkes was invited to give evidence before the Parliamentary Justice Select Committee at the Palace of Westminster on Prison Planning and Design,

2014: Professor Peter Squires appeared on the BBC Panorama ‘Shooting to Kill’ documentary in April.

2013:  Professor Peter Squires was appointed to the Association of Chief Police Officers National Advisory Committee on the Criminal Use of Firearms.

2013: Professor Peter Squires’ work was cited as an ‘invaluable resource’ in the Vice-Presidential Special Commission Report Reducing Gun Violence in America (Webster and Vernick, Eds.).

2012: Professor Peter Squires gave the keynote presentation to the Dutch Society for Criminology Annual Conference in Leiden on: ‘The Politics of Criminalisation’.

2010: Professor Peter Squires was invited to give evidence to the UK Home Affairs Select Committee.

2010: Professor Peter Squires contributed directly to the European Charter on CCTV surveillance.