Crime cannot be viewed as a social problem in isolation from deeper social and economic issues. Understanding and responding to offending behaviour is a complex issue. There is no one ‘cause’ and no single solution; consequently one-dimensional approaches are unlikely to produce results. Currently, the Irish criminal justice system is spending increasing and wasteful amounts of scarce resources with poor results in reducing crime, when modest investments in under-resourced communities would have greater positive effects in reducing offending, as well as producing wider social benefits.
To this end, IPRT is campaigning for a shift in justice resources to prevention and early intervention, in other words: "Shifting Focus: from Criminal Justice to Social Justice."
The case for this shift is strong: as the exhaustive work of bodies like the Washington State Institute for Public Policy shows, there are endless benefits to be gained from taking more constructive approaches to both adult and youth offending. A focus on the underlying difficulties – mental health, addiction, educational disadvantage, poverty – is demonstrably more likely to be effective in addressing the dreadful human cost of crime.
Moreover, against the backdrop of enormous, increasing and endless expenditure on prisons and the criminal justice system as a whole, the case for shifting even a proportion of these resources to a social justice model is undeniable – especially when coupled with the ineffectiveness of the current approach. As research has shown, when specific programmes reduce offending, as well as lessening the social harm of crime, they also save money for the State.
We have been gathering the proof that prevention and early intervention works here.
See also our Shifting Focus campaign section.
2nd February 2012
MEDIA ADVISORY: Ireland’s system of punishment impacts disproportionately on socially excluded communities, and cuts to key preventative services in the community will exacerbate crime rates. Instead, Government must ring-fence resources for policy interventions that address social marginalisation, and thereby reduce crime.
17th January 2012
A new report by The Adolescent and Children's Trust (TACT) and the Centre for the Research on the Child and the Family at the University of East Anglia looks at the correlation between children in care and offending.
5th July 2011
A co-ordinated programme between community, police and other groups in Glasgow has significantly reduced gang violence according to a new report released by the Violence Reduction Unity in the UK.
12th May 2011
Speakers at the 'Whats Working for Children' conference emphasised that early intervention and evidence-based programmes are key to improving outcomes for at-risk children and saving money for the taxpayer in the longer term
29th March 2011
A new report published today in the UK highlights the economic benefits of providing young people aged 16-25 with sufficient supports so that they can improve their lives.
24th March 2011
At a conference in Dublin, the Ballymun Youth Action Project called for increased support for the children of drug users, and greater community involvement in tackling the problem of drugs.
24th March 2011
In an interview on RTÉ Radio One, Niamh Hourigan, sociologist, identifies an urgent need for early intervention amongst children in disadvantaged areas in Limerick.
21st March 2011
A new report from New Philanthropy Capital demonstrates that sport can be a powerful tool for tackling crime and anti-social behaviour among young people.
8th March 2011
Barnardos has called for the new Programme for Government to reflect the Government's responsibility and duty to the children of Ireland, with emphasis on prevention and early intervention.
24th February 2011
The Department for Education in the UK have published a report into the possible benefits of treating young people for substance misuse.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.