Gang activity in english prisons: The staff perspective

Abstract

Gang behaviour has been associated with serious problems in American prisons (e.g., Fong and Buentello, 1991). This study explored the possible existence of indicators of gang activity in English prisons. Surveys of problems consistent with gang activity were completed by 374 prison staff in 16 prisons that were representative of the English Prison Estate. Results showed significant differences between categories of institution. The most gang-related activity was reported in male Medium security prisons and Young Offender Institutions. The lowest reported incidence was in both male Low and High security prisons. Female establishments demonstrated levels lower only than Medium security male prisons. Discussion focuses concern on the levels of gang activity apparently present in the Medium security English Prisons and suggests directions for further research.     

Stepwise Progression: The Past,Present, and Possible Future of Empirical Research on Law in the United States and the United Kingdom

The article distinguishes empirical research on law from other modes of legal enquiry. It charts the changing fortunes of empirical research on law in the United States and the United Kingdom and accounts for the differences between them. In both countries, the development has been uneven and intermittent rather than gradual and linear, with a number of important differences in trajectories, in particular: the number of growth spurts; their timing; the present position; and whether the rise and fall of activity refers to research on civil and criminal justice or on civil justice alone. The different trajectories are explained in terms of path dependency (the fact that developments in the present are shaped by developments in the past); sequential development (emphasizing the importance of timing and that developments in one institution may be contingent on developments in another); and institutional responsiveness (an institution's capacity to respond to opportunities in its external environment).     

A Socio-Legal Approach to Administrative Justice

The first part of this article outlines two complementary approaches to enhancing administrative justice. Internal mechanisms, which can be put into place by government departments and public bodies themselves, are contrasted with external mechanisms, which result in the imposition on government departments and public bodies of principles enunciated by courts, tribunals, and ombudsmen. Lawyers are all too familiar with the external approach but tend to be much less familiar with the internal approach. The article seeks to redress this imbalance. It emphasizes the importance of the internal approach, not as an alternative but, rather, as a complement to the external approach and develops a framework for analyzing administrative justice in terms of "trade-offs" between different normative models of administrative decision-making. The second part of the article demonstrates how this approach to the study of administrative justice has informed research on the impact of computerization on social security in the United Kingdom; on decision making in the Scottish prison system; on the assessment of special educational needs in England and Scotland; and on the computerization of social security in thirteen countries. The article concludes by attempting to show that this approach to the study of administrative justice satisfies all the defining characteristics of the socio-legal paradigm.