About Us - Key facts

 
Key facts

• There are over 8 million people on the UK Government's Offender Index and 9.2 million on the Police National Computer

• 33 per cent of males born in 1953 had been convicted in England and Wales by 2006 of at least one standard list offence before the age of 53 (Standard list offences include all indictable and triable-either-way offences and certain summary offences). Just over half of these had been convicted on only one occasion and 18 per cent had been convicted more than 5 times.

• 9 per cent of females born in 1953 had been convicted of at least one standard list offence before the age of 53. Three-quarters of these had been convicted on only one occasion and 5 per cent had been convicted more than 5 times.

• 28 per cent of males born in 1953 had been convicted before the age of 30; the equivalent figures for those born between 1958 and 1973 are similar and range from 26 to 29 per cent.

• 26 per cent of the 4.9 million open claims for out-of-work benefits as at 1 December 2010 in England and Wales were made by offenders who had received at least one caution or conviction between 2000 to 2010.

• 33% of the 1.2 million total Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) claims open on 1 December 2010 in England and Wales were made by offenders.

• Two years after being released from prison in 2008, 47 per cent of offenders were on out-of-work benefits. During the two year period overall, 75 per cent of offenders made a new claim to an out-of-work benefit at some point. On average, offenders leaving prison in 2008 spent 48 per cent of the next two years on out-of-work benefits.

 

Ways of thinking

• Individuals who commit crimes have accrued debts to society and the research of Shadd Maruna has focused on how they are able to “make good” on these. An individual needs to change his or her behaviours, make efforts to atone for one’s wrongdoing, but the rest of us, especially those working in the criminal justice system, also play a crucial role acting in the role of forgiver. 
  
  
• Research shows that those who perceive their ascribed status to be permanent (whether it be being labelled as a 'alcoholic’, being ‘mentally ill’, or being a ‘paedophile’, etc) are most likely to slip into hopelessness, passivity, and retreatism. They are the least likely to make efforts to change themselves because they do not think such change is possible (LeBel, T.P. (2008). Perceptions of and responses to stigma. Sociology Compass, 2: 409-32)
  
  
• Desisting from crime is difficult and requires considerable self-belief. If a person feels like everyone is against them and that they don’t have a chance in life, well, they probably don’t. If we show individuals that we believe they can change, they may begin to believe this themselves. 
  
  
• A societal belief in moral redeemability is necessary “because there has to be a way to restore people to good standing so that they’ll be motivated to return to cooperation with all of the other [law-abiding members] in the population” (McCullough, M. E. (2008). Beyond revenge: The evolution of the forgiveness instinct New York: Jossey-Bass, p. 106.)

Useful resources

• Ministry of Justice Statistics Bulletin (2010) - Conviction histories of offenders between the ages of 10 and 52

• MoJ/DWP (2011) - Offending, employment and benefits - emerging findings from the data linkage project