Changes in the process of giving people a criminal record happen very seldom in our society. What catches the headlines are stories such as ‘tougher sentences for muggers’, or ‘blitz on youth yobs’, but every few decades there is a big shift in opinion. This is what is happening now.

Although rates of crime are actually falling, more and more people are being imprisoned – up by 30,000 since 1991, to 75,000. The Government is keen to be seen as tough on crime, but research repeatedly shows that imprisoning people and giving harsher sentences are not always the best or most successful paths to creating a safer society and reducing crime.

The Government is now asking whether criminals (and young offenders especially), are best helped by being sent to prison. It is looking at new and alternative forms of punishment such as weekend imprisonment or community sentences, where the offender does work to say sorry to the victim (this is called ‘restorative justice’). To build a more cohesive community life the Government wants to encourage the ordinary person in the street and local organizations and groups to involve themselves in ‘community justice’. 

One of the challenges that these ideas pose to religious groups is whether they are part of the thinking behind them. The Church’s message of forgiveness, redemption and inclusion is significantly at odds with the Government’s current methods of punishment, imprisonment and retribution. Rethinking Sentencing will hopefully illustrate why the conversation about what we should ‘do’ with offenders is worth contributing to - as the Government merges the Prison and Probation Service and experiments with new forms of justice, the Church has an opportunity to make its voice heard.

Rethinking Sentencing is a report that is practical, visionary, critical and hopeful. It reaches us at an exciting time of change. Beyond the headlines, the sound bites of politicians and the tabloid press, there is a real attempt to improve the criminal justice system in the same way that the NHS is being modernized and resourced. But money alone (and certainly not more prisons) will never solve crime. It is only when we think outside the box that things will begin to change. Rethinking Sentencing is a brave attempt by the Churches to do just that.

The book has been widely and positively reviewed by a number of criminal justice organizations. These are just a few of their comments:

‘The authors write with wisdom and compassion and guide us towards a justice system in which proportionality, fairness and reparation would supplant expediency, vengeance and retribution.’ 
Juliet Lyon, Director, Prison Reform Trust

‘This thoughtful collection of essays not only brings a Christian perspective to bear on the highly charged subject of sentencing, but raises a wide range of profound questions about how society deals with offenders. It will be of great interest to all those who work in, study, or worry about criminal justice.’
Rob Allen, Director, Rethinking Crime and Punishment

‘Rethinking Sentencing is a thoughtful, insightful and refreshing contribution to penal thinking. The authors demonstrate convincingly that Christian principles require a radically different approach to sentencing – one based in restoring the damage caused by crime and respecting the humanity of all those affected by it.’
Paul Cavadino, Chief Executive, Nacro

Contributing authors

David Faulkner is one of the leading British experts on the way in which criminal justice relates to social cohesion and on multi-ethnic relations.

Stephen Pryor was a prison governor who is now developing the truly radical plan for prisons to be places where prisoners are taught how to take responsibility for themselves, their neighbours and the community. His article is a searing attack on the prison service for taking away responsibility and treating prisoners as infants. 

Tim Newell for many years ran the only British therapeutic prison for murderers, rapists and others doing life, where they faced up to their offences in years of group therapy. Tim is now one of the most prominent advocates of restorative justice, which he is implementing in Thames Valley, working closely with the police.

Three other articles are by Lord Justice Laws, a senior judge of the Court of Appeal, who states the traditional reasons for sentencing; Peter Selby, Bishop to Prisons, who regrets how much our society corrupts criminal justice by its low expectations of the system; and Stuart Dew who gives an overview of the myriad ways the Churches are involved with victims, offenders and the community.