Secondary analysis of data collected over a 20 year period by HM Inspectorate of Prisons
Lead Research Organisation:
Royal Holloway University of London
Department Name: School of Law
Abstract
This proposal uses data from over 100,000 prisoner surveys conducted by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales (HMIP) over the last twenty years to examine how prisoners' reports of their treatment and conditions varies according to their characteristics, sentence and other factors, and how this relates to changes in prison policy and performance over this period.
Since June 2000, HMIP has conducted detailed, confidential surveys of prisoners as part of every full prison inspection it undertakes. Throughout this period the surveys have been conducted by accredited government social researchers according to a published methodology (see for example HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 2020a: 73-74). The survey is administered by independent HMIP researchers without any participation by prison staff. Participation is entirely voluntary and individual respondents cannot be identified. The resulting database consists of survey data from at least 100,000 respondents and contains more than 10 million analysable responses. These have been collected from every prison and young offender institution (YOI) in England and Wales. Furthermore, as HMIP's remit has expanded over this period (HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 2019: 6-7) it has conducted regular surveys in Secure Training Centres (these hold children between the ages of 12 and 17 years of age), Immigration Removal Centres, and Military Detention Centres: this provides a wealth of accessible but as yet unexplored data for prisons and other places of detention. Following a successful feasibility study conducted by Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL) in collaboration with HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) during the first half of 2020, an infrastructure is now in place for a large-scale historical database to be prepared, analysed, and made accessible to academic researchers for the first time.
The research will use analyses of prisoners' own accounts of their experience recorded in their survey responses to develop new insights into the most pressing issues facing the prison system at this time: deteriorating safety with high rates of assaults, self-harm and suicide; consistently high reoffending rates for those released from prison; restrictions on the time prisoners are able to spend out of their cells participating in work, education and rehabilitative activities; and how these differ according to prisoners' characteristics. The need to use prisoners' experience to address these topics and the importance of them to the operation of safe, decent and rehabilitative prisons is addressed in a large body of academic literature. The proposed research has an immeduate and direct relevance to how prisons will emerge from the restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic and the need to address the disproportionality highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement.
The project team will work closely with practitioners, other experts and former (and if possible current) prisoners to develop practical guidance and recommendations arising from the research and leave the data base as a lasting legacy from the project, enabling teachers and researchers to make use of this previously hidden resource. We have been encouraged by the responses we received in the prisoner focus groups we ran during the feasibility study which expressed the wish for the surveys to be used positively to support improvement and the value senior policy makers have identified in this work and their desire to play an active role within the project advisory group.
Since June 2000, HMIP has conducted detailed, confidential surveys of prisoners as part of every full prison inspection it undertakes. Throughout this period the surveys have been conducted by accredited government social researchers according to a published methodology (see for example HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 2020a: 73-74). The survey is administered by independent HMIP researchers without any participation by prison staff. Participation is entirely voluntary and individual respondents cannot be identified. The resulting database consists of survey data from at least 100,000 respondents and contains more than 10 million analysable responses. These have been collected from every prison and young offender institution (YOI) in England and Wales. Furthermore, as HMIP's remit has expanded over this period (HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 2019: 6-7) it has conducted regular surveys in Secure Training Centres (these hold children between the ages of 12 and 17 years of age), Immigration Removal Centres, and Military Detention Centres: this provides a wealth of accessible but as yet unexplored data for prisons and other places of detention. Following a successful feasibility study conducted by Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL) in collaboration with HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) during the first half of 2020, an infrastructure is now in place for a large-scale historical database to be prepared, analysed, and made accessible to academic researchers for the first time.
The research will use analyses of prisoners' own accounts of their experience recorded in their survey responses to develop new insights into the most pressing issues facing the prison system at this time: deteriorating safety with high rates of assaults, self-harm and suicide; consistently high reoffending rates for those released from prison; restrictions on the time prisoners are able to spend out of their cells participating in work, education and rehabilitative activities; and how these differ according to prisoners' characteristics. The need to use prisoners' experience to address these topics and the importance of them to the operation of safe, decent and rehabilitative prisons is addressed in a large body of academic literature. The proposed research has an immeduate and direct relevance to how prisons will emerge from the restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic and the need to address the disproportionality highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement.
The project team will work closely with practitioners, other experts and former (and if possible current) prisoners to develop practical guidance and recommendations arising from the research and leave the data base as a lasting legacy from the project, enabling teachers and researchers to make use of this previously hidden resource. We have been encouraged by the responses we received in the prisoner focus groups we ran during the feasibility study which expressed the wish for the surveys to be used positively to support improvement and the value senior policy makers have identified in this work and their desire to play an active role within the project advisory group.
| Description | For more than two decades, HM Inspectorate of Prisons for England and Wales (HMIP) has conducted detailed, confidential surveys of prisoners and other detainees as part of every full prison inspection it undertakes across England and Wales. This has generated a unique database of historic survey data from almost 100 000 respondents, with more than 10 million analysable responses Following a successful feasibility study conducted in collaboration with HMIP, which included the exploration of detainees' expectations about the governance of this survey data, an infrastructure was put in place for a large scale database to be prepared, analysed and made accessible to other researchers. To date, the project activities have centred on preparing this data for submission to the UK Data Service archive, together with an accompanying user guide / manual. We have presented emerging findings at: The Annual British Society of Criminology conference (exploring food in prison), June 2022; An internal research infrastructure event on Quantitative Approaches to Inequality and Injustice, January 2023; An interactive workshop on trust in the Criminal Justice System at the Criminal Justice Alliance conference, March 2023. |
| Exploitation Route | We are working hard to disseminate our findings and promote the archived data to a range of potential data users. For example, in March 2023 we delivered an interactive workshop at the Criminal Justice Alliance national conference, explaining how researchers could access the data and offering worked examples on the conference theme of trust in the Criminal Justice System. In January 2023 we introduced the data to a multi-disciplinary group of colleagues at Royal Holloway, in supporting Quantitative Approaches to Inequality and Injustice. |
| Sectors | Government, Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://royalholloway.ac.uk/research-and-teaching/departments-and-schools/law-and-criminology/research/our-projects-and-research-impact/secondary-analysis-of-data-collected-over-a-20-year-period-by-hm-inspectorate-of-prisons/ |
| Title | Introducing HMIP data: workshop on Quantitative Approaches to Inequality and Injustice |
| Description | An internal event (entitled "Quantitative Approaches to Inequality and Injustice"), where colleagues from a wide range of disciplines (Law and Criminology, Politics, International Relations and Philosophy, Economics, Social Work, Psychology) were introduced to the HMIP dataset and variables. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Sharing details of the dataset (and how it will be made available to researchers once archived with the UKDS) with a wide range of potential data users from within Royal Holloway. |
| Title | 20 years of HM Inspectorate of Prisons Detainee Survey Data: Adults in England and Wales |
| Description | This dataset has been prepared for archiving with the UK Data Service. It comprises 20 years of HM Inspectorate of Prisons Detainee Survey Data collected from adults in every prison in England and Wales. |
| Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Provided To Others? | Yes |
| Impact | This significant large dataset will transform the way in which prison scholars can explore new avenues of research and/or contextualise their existing research. Spanning hundreds of variables, the anonymous data was originally gathered as part of the HM Inspectorate of Prisons' regular inspections of every prison in England and Wales. Accompanying user guides will enable researchers to make best use of this unique resource. |
| Description | Interactive workshop with potential data users: Criminal Justice Alliance conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We presented an interactive workshop (attended by 20) and poster (viewed by 100+) at the Criminal Justice Alliance conference on the theme of trust in the CJS. We gave an overview of the project, illustrated with worked examples of analyses of items in the dataset relevant to 'trust' and took questions and comments from potential data users - academics, PhD students, and representatives from the Prison Service and voluntary sector organisations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.criminaljusticealliance.org/cja-events-member-meetings/ |