Downsizing Prisons in an Age of Austerity? Justice Reinvestment and Women's Imprisonment

Onati Socio-Legal Series (Forthcoming)

UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2013-46

29 Pages Posted: 13 Sep 2014

See all articles by Julie Stubbs

Julie Stubbs

University of New South Wales (UNSW, Australia) - Faculty of Law

Date Written: September 12, 2014

Abstract

Justice Reinvestment is being actively promoted as one means of reducing high levels of incarceration through diverting expenditures from prisons to fund services intended to provide support and supervision for offenders within the community and to prevent crime. At a time of financial stringency, the huge expenditure necessitated by high incarceration rates is being re-examined. There is growing recognition that high levels of incarceration are ineffective in reducing recidivism and may be criminogenic and damaging in other ways for individuals and communities. Based on claims that Justice Reinvestment schemes in the US have produced promising results, some activists and politicians in Australia have urged the adoption of Justice Reinvestment. This advocacy has emphasised the need to find mechanisms to reduce the very high levels of incarceration of Indigenous people. Women’s imprisonment rates have increased substantially in recent years and to a greater extent than rates for men. This pattern has been observed in several jurisdictions and is even more pronounced for Indigenous women. This paper critically examines features of Justice Reinvestment, such as its endorsement of ‘evidence based policy’ and risk assessment tools, to question whether these features are likely to promote the interests of women.

Keywords: justice reinvestment, crime, incarceration, indigenous women, women's imprisonment

Suggested Citation

Stubbs, Julie, Downsizing Prisons in an Age of Austerity? Justice Reinvestment and Women's Imprisonment (September 12, 2014). Onati Socio-Legal Series (Forthcoming), UNSW Law Research Paper No. 2013-46, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2495435

Julie Stubbs (Contact Author)

University of New South Wales (UNSW, Australia) - Faculty of Law ( email )

Kensington
High St
Sydney, NSW 2052
Australia

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