Crime is a social phenomenon, and policy must respond to that, writes LIAM HERRICK
DESPITE WIDE recognition that Ireland’s system of punishment impacts disproportionately on socially excluded communities, law and policy continue to exacerbate the inequalities that increase the risk of crime rather than contributing to the building of safer and more resilient communities.
There are a number of specific ways in which the criminal law is unduly focused on marginalised groups and those living in poverty. Laws prohibiting vagrancy and begging are a clear example of how the criminal law targets marginalised groups through the criminalisation of activities which are linked to poverty.
The continuing practice of imprisonment for non-payment of debt and non-payment of court-ordered fines, despite recent legislative moves to address these issues, impacts disproportionately on the poor.
It is no coincidence that imprisonment for non-payment of fines has soared during the present recession, from 1,335 in 2007 to over 7,000 last year.
Marginalised communities are more heavily policed and more severely punished than the affluent, compounding the social exclusion that underlies much crime. Studies of particularly vulnerable or disadvantaged groups provide evidence of over-policing of deprived areas, which in turn can result in higher levels of crime detection than in more privileged communities, and consequently greater rates of conviction.
This discrepancy follows through into sentencing. A 1998 study of sentencing in District Courts found that 29 per cent of those from the most deprived areas received custodial sentences, compared to 19 per cent of those from the least deprived. At the same time so called “white collar” crimes – traditionally committed by the more privileged members of society – are much less likely to result in custodial sentences than the crimes (theft, criminal damage, drug-related offences) typically committed by the poorer and more marginalised, despite the massive detrimental impact of “white collar” crimes on society as a whole.
The criminal law should treat all transgressors in an equitable manner. While there is understandable public demand for a more punitive response to the crimes of the wealthy, we might also ask why there is not greater questioning of the utility of prison as a response to the less serious offending of the poor.
Imprisonment is damaging to all people – not just those who are educated and empowered – and therefore should be the measure of last resort for all categories of offender, and not just those who come from more privileged sections of society.
While the well-resourced and resourceful can overcome their setbacks and mistakes, interaction with the criminal justice system often draws the most marginalised deeper into a downward spiral of poverty and exclusion. Failures to adequately resource reintegration supports following imprisonment in relation to housing, employment and health services directly contribute to recidivism and reimprisonment.
Yet successful reintegration back into the community is a critical step in breaking inter-generational cycles of crime, poverty, homelessness and imprisonment.
The fact that Ireland remains the only EU state without any system of spent convictions is only one example of how we condemn even minor offenders to lifetime barriers to employment.
Ultimately, the most cost-effective response to crime is to invest in early intervention strategies to combat social and educational disadvantage and prevent vulnerable young people embarking on criminality in the first place.
International studies show that keeping young people out of the criminal justice system generates significant savings in terms of social and economic cost.
One cost-benefit analysis in the UK demonstrated that while the average cost to the taxpayer of having a young person in the criminal justice system is £200,000 by the age of 16, less than £50,000 is needed to support a young person to stay out of the system. Prevention and early intervention strategies, alongside investment in community-based policing, alternatives to custody, community sanctions and open prisons can help break the negative cycle of poverty, crime and imprisonment.
Unless and until Ireland takes meaningful steps to combat marginalisation, poverty and educational disadvantage in certain communities, our criminal justice system will continue to feed the causes of crime, rather than invest in solutions.
Liam Herrick is executive director, Irish Penal Reform Trust. The Vicious Circle of Social Exclusion and Crime: Irelands Disproportionate Punishment of the Pooris available from www.iprt.ie