Archived

How can short periods in custody be made more effective at reducing reoffending? What are the effects of longer custodial sentences on crime?

Background

We want to build confidence and trust in a system that upholds public protection and creates the conditions for individual rehabilitation. We want to better support the probation service in using evidence-based decision-making.

Next steps

We can be contacted at the following email address: [email protected].

Source

This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:

Areas of research interest

Related UKRI funded projects

  • Make Time Count Today - Reducing criminal reoffending on probation through data analytics, predictive behaviour recognition and optimised interventions

    **Problem Addressed** Crime costs UK economy over £58bn pa, with 1.2mn people convicted annually. Of these, 87% have previous convictions, 60% of released prisoners and 30% on probation reoffend within 12 months. ...

    Funded by: Innovate UK

    Lead research organisation: MAKE TIME COUNT TODAY LTD

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project addresses reducing reoffending through data analytics and tailored interventions, aligning with the question's focus on making custody more effective.

  • Understanding Offender Rehabilitation and Supervision

    Offender rehabilitation in England and Wales is in crisis. 57% of adults released from short custodial sentences re-offend within just 1 year of their release. Lack of rehabilitation is a key driver of record-high prison...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Strathclyde

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project specifically addresses the effectiveness of short periods in custody on reducing reoffending and the effects of longer custodial sentences on crime, using data analysis and causal estimation.

  • Evaluating the long-term impact of Release on Temporary License (ROTL)

    Release on temporary licence (ROTL) provides eligible people currently in prison the opportunity to prepare for resettlement in the community through day or overnight release. The intended impact of ROTL is to reduce reo...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: Queen Mary University of London

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project evaluates the long-term impact of Release on Temporary License (ROTL) and explores how changes in ROTL policy may have influenced reoffending in the long-term.

  • ADR UK Data First Evaluation Fellowship

    Until recently, the large amounts of administrative data routinely collected about offenders as they are moved through the Criminal Justice System have been inaccessible to research. Instead, our understanding has largel...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Surrey

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project uses administrative data to track offenders across all stages of the Criminal Justice System, but does not specifically address the impact of longer custodial sentences on crime.

  • Plymouth Community Justice Court: A Case Study of Problem Solving Interventions, Reducing Re-offending and Public Confidence

    The criminal justice system has over many years introduced a range of initiatives designed to reduce crime and support offenders in their efforts to desist from crime. One recent initiative, originating in the U.S.A and ...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Plymouth

    Why might this be relevant?

    The project examines the effectiveness of the Plymouth Community Justice Court in reducing reoffending, but does not specifically address the impact of short periods in custody or longer custodial sentences on crime.

  • Regulating Justice: The Dynamics of Compliance and Breach in Criminal Justice Social Work in Scotland

    Not only does Scotland imprison more people than most European countries, but our prison numbers are also rising despite a fall in crime levels. The Scottish Government is attempting to reduce imprisonment through increa...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Strathclyde

  • WOMEN OFFENDERS AND PROBLEM-SOLVING JUSTICE. A KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE PROJECT WITH MAGISTRATES, COURT PROBATION STAFF AND COURT ADVISORS

    This project will apply the findings of an evaluation of Women's Community Services by Dr Polly Radcliffe and Gillian Hunter at ICPR. The aim of the project is to use our research findings to improve the sentencing of wo...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Kent

  • Breaking the Cycle? Prison Visitation and Recidivism in the UK.

    In the aftermath of the 2011 UK riots, Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke described the rioters as a 'feral underclass, cut off from the mainstream', and blamed the riots on the 'broken penal system - one whose record in p...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Birmingham

  • Long-term imprisonment from young adulthood: a longitudinal follow-up study

    Due to a hardening of penal sensibilities and more stringent sentencing practices (mainly as a result of the 2003 Criminal Justice Act), a growing number of prisoners are serving extremely long sentences from an early ag...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Cambridge

  • The "Rehabilitation Prison": An oxymoron or an opportunity to radically reform imprisonment?

    Prisons are experiencing numerous problems: rising numbers, 'new' populations requiring specialised care (e.g. elderly men, military veterans); an ageing and dilapidated estate that spatially exacerbates effects of overc...

    Funded by: ESRC

    Lead research organisation: University of Bath

Similar ARIs from other organisations

Sentencing, Prisons & Rehabilitation - Sentencing What factors contribute to individuals receiving short custodial sentences of 12 months or less despite the existence of the presumption against short sentences? Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services, 2025
Full details