Introduction: The Criminal Justice Voluntary Sector: In Comparative Perspective

Abstract

This special issue contributes to scholarly, practical and policymaking efforts to understand the (potential) activities of voluntary (non-State, non-profit) organisations and volunteers across criminal justice institutions, in jurisdictions around the world. It is hard to understand why the activities of voluntary organisations and voluntary organisations (within and beyond criminal justice) have not received more attention, given their size and the range of activities. The voluntary sector is, however, both a core regulator of the State and social services actor.Regarding regulation, in response to rising prison suicides in England and Wales, the voluntary sector (in conjunction with civil society) has been the only overseer to escalate sanctions beyond persuasion and discretionary implementation. Effective regulation demands a pyramid of escalating sanctions. HMP Woodhill, a men's prison near Milton Keynes, had an unprecendented spate of 18 suicides from May 2013 to December 2016. This spate ended only when a voluntary organisation (INQUEST) and bereaved families brought a judicial review. Shortly after the judicial review was granted, Woodhill had its first suicide-free year for seven years. It is harrowing that the 'tipping point' for action was already-bereaved families and INQUEST bringing a judicial review (Tomczak 2018). Nevertheless, their unique role in escalating prison regulation deserves recognition. Yet, for prisons and across social services, 'little is known about the active role that voluntary organisations play in shaping and mobilising' the State (Baker and McGuirk 2019, p.1). This is problematic.Mixed economies of service provision have seen increasing numbers of service users funnelled into services provided by the voluntary sector rather than statutory sectors. Voluntary organisations (and volunteers within statutory services) comprise a large and rising proportion of the social service workforce and 'deliver important services' (Teicher and Liang

Identifying, navigating, resisting, and eliminating structural stigma and the collateral consequences of punishment: The role of the penal voluntary sector in supporting people with criminal records in Canada

“…As I read and grapple with existing and emerging research on the penal voluntary sector (also often referred to as the criminal justice voluntary sector), the tensions that I encounter on the pages of books and journal articles echo the apprehensions and concerns I have with my understanding and experiences alongside it. The friction between control and care, punishment and support, reform and transformation, weaves its way throughout the substantive chapters of this dissertation -and it is this complexity, inherent to the penal voluntary sector, that calls for further research, exploration, and engagement (Tomczak, 2019). As Philippa Tomczak succinctly writes: the penal voluntary sector is "complicated, concerning, and full of potential" (Tomczak, 2017, p.170).…”