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Online publications
The Howard League's online publications can be downloaded for free. This online resource is available after completing a simple registration form. Once you register, you can download pdf copies of our free online reports.
Youth justice in Wales: Thinking beyond the prison bars
2009, 19pp, ISBN 978-1-905994-20-5
Free to download (PDF 466 KB)
This report recommends that youth justice should be devolved to the Welsh Assembly in order better to protect vulnerable children.
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Turnkeys or professionals? A vision for the 21st century prison officer
2009, 18pp, ISBN 978-1-905994-18-2
Free to download (PDF 1.9MB)
This report suggest that a radical and fundamental review of the role of the prison offcer is needed that questions their role, purpose, professional satus and points to a new future that serves the public.
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Do Better Do Less: The report of the Commission on English Prisons Today
2009, 77pp, ISBN 978-1-905994-16-8
Free to download (PDF 1.5MB)
This final report of the Commission on English Prisons Today is the product of a two-year long inquiry commissioned by the Howard League for Penal Reform. It takes a radical look at the purpose and limits of a penal system and is a road-map for long term and fundamental reform.
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To devolve or not to devolve? The pros and cons of making local authorities financially responsible for children in penal custody
2009, 21 pp, ISBN 978-1-905994-15-1
Free to download (PDF 310KB)
This briefing paper considers the pros and cons of devolving youth custody budgets and asks a fundamental question: to what extent can altering the financial arrangements effect real change for the better or is this in reality a problem of law, policy and attitudes?
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Custody panels: Impact of a pilot scheme on juvenile sentencing rates
2009, 11pp, ISBN 978-1-9-905994-14-4
Free to download (PDF 2MB)
This report reviews the work of a pilot initiative in Wessex, a custody panel with representatives of the Youth Offending Team, Children’s Services and the voluntary sector set up to look at the cases of all children under 18 sentenced to custody in North Hampshire.
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Prison work and social enterprise: the story of Barbed
2008, 38pp, ISBN 978-1-905994-09-0
Free to download (PDF 1.9MB)
This independed evaluation relates the history of Barbed, a unique social enterprise set up by the Howard League inside Coldingley prison. It explores the motivations and the pilosophy behind the intitiative before examining the operationl issues and obstacles encountered along the way.
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Punishing Children. A Survey of criminal responsibility and approaches across Europe
2008, 19pp, ISBN 978-1-905994-10-6
Free to download (PDF 1.3 MB)
This report examines and compares different youth justice systems across Europe. It contrasts the welfare based approach across Europe with the UK where punishment is the centre of the response to children in trouble with the law.
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High Security Prisons: Prisoner Perspectives.
Prison Information Bulletin 4
2008, 28pp, ISBN 978-1-905994-05-02
Free to download (PDF 1.2MB)
This bulletin explores the high security estate in England and Wales. It looks at eight prisons that make up this part of the prison estate and provides a flavour of life in those prisons. (2008)
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Indeterminate Sentences for Public Protection.
Prison Information Bulletin 3
2007, 28pp, ISBN 978-1-905994-01-4
Free to download (PDF 608 KB)
Drawing on a range of sources, including public documents and interviews, this report illustrates that the Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection (IPP) has been ill-conceived and is ultimately flawed.
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Violence Against Children in Conflict with the Law
2008, 144pp, ISBN: 978-90-74270-24-3
Free do download (PDF 562 KB)
A study on indicators and data collection in Belgium, England and Wales, France and the Netherlands. The study was produced by the Howard League for Penal Reform and Defence for Children International.
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