A measure of prison performance

‘All prisons have strengths and weaknesses,’ explained Centre Director Professor Alison Liebling, ‘but how prison authorities go about objectively evaluating the quality of prisons has suffered from a lack of systematic research on what matters most, and has failed to link differences in prison organisation and culture to outcomes such as suicide and reconviction.’

Aiming to fill this gap, Professor Liebling and colleague Dr Ben Crewe have spent almost three years interviewing senior managers, staff and prisoners at public and private prisons across the UK. The study, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), draws on the trust and credibility they have developed over many years through engagement with practitioners and prisoners.

In piecing together the complex interplay of values, practices and outcomes that define the relative success and failure of prisons, the net result of this study, building on several others, has been the development of a survey-based management tool with which prisons can now measure their own performance. ‘Using the tool, we’ve found some really clear patterns that show what makes an establishment work well and where there is cause for concern,’ explained Professor Liebling. ‘The prison managers we’ve worked with have been extremely receptive and are using the data as a basis for strategic planning.’

Phil Wheatley, Director General of the National Offender Management Service, which is responsible for delivering prison and probation services on behalf of the Ministry of Justice, added: ‘This research has enabled the Prison Service to better understand how prison management can be more effective and to better understand the complexity of the prison officer role. Specific deliverables include a new anti-suicide policy, which has substantially reduced suicide, and a survey for measuring prisoner perceptions, which has been used to judge the success of our prisons.’