The Vision Project

CRIMINAL JUSTICE
AND SOCIAL
EXCLUSION
A PLACE FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE?
WRITTEN BY DR IAN WALMSLEY
Ian is Senior Lecture in Criminology at the University of the West of England.
In the Spirit Level, Wilkinson and Pickett
make a persuasive argument that
national crime rates strongly correlate to
levels of social inequality. Criminologists,
furthermore, have observed that certain
types of crime, acquisitive crimes in
particular, are concentrated among
socially marginalised and excluded
groups...
Tackling the link between social exclusion and
involvement in crime is not straightforward when
we consider that social disadvantage has been
deeply embedded within the structures and
institutions of British society for many decades.
This entrenchment is arguably worsened by the
institutions of the criminal justice system and
policies that glorify individual responsibility
while at the same time downplaying or silencing
collective and social responsibilities. Part of the
problem can be traced to our narrow conception
of justice and the unintended consequences
of the type of justice we are delivering. The
solution I want to propose is that the exercise of
criminal justice should be widened to include a
consideration of social justice.
The links between social exclusion and crime
have been well-recognised but how might the
day-to-day workings of the institutions of the
criminal justice system contribute to this link?
I am not suggesting that the criminal justice
system reproduces this link intentionally. Part of
the problem, it can be suggested, is related to
the narrow conception of justice that underpins
the decisions and actions of the criminal justice
system. Criminal justice in this respect, directs
the disciplinary apparatus of the state towards
correcting the individual rather than recognising
the structural influences on individual behaviour.
In practice, the search for justice inevitably
becomes entangled with punishment, retribution
or questions regarding the types of punishment
that can most successfully and efficiently deliver
justice for society. The exercise of punishment
aims to deter crime generally, rehabilitate
offenders and discourage them from committing
crimes in the future. Importantly, in the last
few decades the pursuit of criminal justice has
increasingly become fixated on prison as the
method of punishment best suited to achieve
these aims.
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The number of men and women sent to prison
has almost doubled in the last two decades with
Government figures for September 2019 reporting
82,384 prisoners in England and Wales, compared
to 44,975 in 1989. Furthermore, since 2010 the
growth in the prison population in England has
surpassed the increase in the general population
by 10%. Paradoxically, actual crime rates had been
falling long before the prison came to hold this
privileged positon in the exercise of juridical power.
Nevertheless, this move towards incarceration has
unsurprisingly silenced, on the one hand, the link
between social exclusion and crime and on the
other, the collective responsibilities necessary to
reduce the social causes of some crimes.
The All Party Parliamentary Group for Ending
Homelessness acknowledged that 15% of newly
sentenced prisoners reported being homeless
before entering prison and a third of rough
sleepers in London had served time in prison. Such
living conditions can have serious implications for
there is convincing evidence that those who were
homeless prior to their imprisonment are more
likely to be reconvicted upon release compared
with those that report living in other types of
accommodation. In essence, those caught in
the revolving door of the criminal justice system
are more likely to come from economically and
socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Arguably,
the continued use of an underfunded and
overpopulated prison system risks producing
hostile and criminogenic environments that
will inevitably impact upon communities in the
form of more crime, victimisation and human
misery. The prison disturbances, rising levels of
violence against prison staff and prisoner on
prisoner violence is recent evidence of this type of
environment.
Where do we go from here? We can never imprison
our way to a safer and more equal society. A
solution to this problem, I would argue, can be
found in the concept of social justice. Criminal
justice is limited in its valorisation of individual
choice and responsibility and neglect of collective
responsibilities. In contrast, social justice promotes
fair and just relations between the individual
and society. It supports an imagination of the
individual as always embedded and affected
by the social environment. This understanding
of justice as a collective or social good draws
attention to the economic and social inequalities
of those that find themselves caught within the
revolving door of the criminal justice system. It
moves beyond the idea that individuals alone
have the capacity and responsibility to become
more socially included and recognises that with
the fair and equal distribution of opportunities
and access to a wider range of resources, such
as appropriate housing upon release from
prison, desistance from crime is an achievable
reality. From this perspective, rehabilitation of
an individual offender should always carefully
consider the bigger picture as well as its influence
on the individual.
Practically, the inclusion of social justice into
the criminal justice system might involve
increasing the use of community alternatives to
imprisonment and strengthening the position
of social policy in efforts to reduce crime and
rehabilitate offenders. Either way, there is much
value in understanding the criminal justice system
as an important mechanism for achieving social
justice and something that we can all benefit from.
“We can never imprison
our way to a safer and
more equal society.”
THE VISION PROJECT