NCJ Number
220632
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 47 Issue: 5 Dated: September 2007 Pages: 798-816
Date Published
September 2007
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper identifies overlaps between risk and human rights in prison management in the United Kingdom and suggests some key features of a "risk and rights" analysis by drawing upon insights from criminology, human rights law, and the study of regulation.
Abstract
The first part of the article discusses British criminology's lack of attention to the application of human rights law in prison administration. The authors speculate that this may be because criminologists have viewed human rights law as the domain of lawyers, who have been trained in the analysis and application of law. Still, since human rights law bears upon prisoner's rights, which in turn has implications for how prisons are managed, then prison-focused criminology must address how human rights law influences the management of prisoners. Prison management is also concerned about the risk to prison security posed by prisoners' rights; however, human rights lawyers have had little to say about such risk and how it impacts prisoners' rights. This may be because lawyers are not familiar with the scientific features of risk assessment instruments designed to determine how inmates should be classified in terms of their security risk in the prison. Criminologists, on the other hand, are schooled in criminal behavior and risk factors likely to be linked to such behavior. This paper identifies four overlapping themes drawn from a range of literature on risk and on rights, themes that the authors view as pertinent to future research in the two areas. These themes are the social construction of risk, the diversity of legal cultures, the nature of various aspects of legal knowledge, and the "framing" of risk and rights compliance. 115 references