Experts warn of ‘mass supervision’ by Scottish justice system

Experts have warned of “mass supervision” by the justice system following news the number of Scottish offenders serving community sentences has increased sevenfold while the prison population remains stable, The Herald reports.

Researchers have found a move towards penal systems which penetrate more deeply into people’s lives in justice systems across Europe.

In the mid-1970s, fewer than 3,000 probation orders were handed out in Scotland, though by 2013-14 over 20,000 people were serving community payback sentences.

The prison population has risen over this period from 6,000 to 8,178 in 2011-12.

Sixty researchers spent four years looking into the justice systems of 23 countries in Europe as part of the COST Action study.

Chairman, Professor Fergus McNeill of the University of Glasgow, told The Herald: “We have spent four years studying a rarely examined aspect of criminal justice systems where fundamental relationships between the state, civil society and citizens are tested.

“These institutions, cultures and practices are mirrors into which we must look, even if we don’t always like what we see.”

He added that Scotland has more prisoners and people under supervision than most other countries in Europe.

Professor McNeil said: “The reason that there are more people under supervision could be that as a society we have become more fearful.

“We have had 30 or so years of the politicisation of crime and punishment, starting with Margaret Thatcher in the 1980s, and law an order is now very much a political issue.

“Punishment is a way for a government to show its credentials. We have become very active consumers of punishment, and its time that, as a society, we should go on a diet.

“Our penal system is too concerned with punishment and imprisonment, but what we have found is that changing our ways is not as easy as we first thought.”

The academics called for supervision that is proportional to crimes committed and delivered in such a way that it minimises discomfort and disruption to offenders and their families.

Vice-chair of the network, Professor Kristel Beyens of the Free University of Brussels said: “We now know that expansion and diversification of supervision across Europe is not, in general, impacting significantly on prison populations.

“We also have emerging evidence from our own work that, contrary to common public perceptions, supervision is a painful experience, even when it is experienced as fair and helpful.

“The net of penal control is expanding and drawing more people in, and we urgently need to address and arrest that expansion.”

A Scottish government spokeswoman said: “We are working towards a position where prison sentences, particularly short term sentences, are used less frequently, with a stronger emphasis on robust community sentences which address the underlying causes of offending. This approach is working, with reconviction rates at their lowest for 16 years.

“Community sentences deliver real benefits, both to local communities and to the individuals who can use them to turn their lives around, and are more effective at reducing reoffending than short prison sentences.

“In 2013/14, over 1.8 million hours of unpaid work were imposed as part of these orders and the range of projects undertaken included support for winter resilience and flood clear-up to refurbishment and redecoration of community spaces.”