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FORUM on Corrections Research
The Role of the Home Office Research and Planning Unit
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The Home Office is one of the oldest Departments of State in the United Kingdom, its modern form
originating in 1782. With the Lord Chancellor and the other law officers of the Crown, the Home
Secretary shares responsibility for the criminal justice system in England and Wales. The Home Office
deals with the police, the lower courts, the probation and after-care service and the prisons as well as
the development of policies relating to broadcasting, ethnic relations and immigration. It thus combines
most of the functions of what, in Europe and elsewhere, are often separate Ministries - namely of the
interior and of justice. The Research and Planning Unit (RPU) is only one focus of research activity within the Home Office; its distinctive role is to provide the central resource for policy-relevant social and operational research. Research on technological matters for most departments and all operational research for the police departments is carried out by the Scientific Research and Development Branch, while the Police Research Unit provides a liaison service between police forces and researchers. The Prison Psychological Service carries out research on the internal prison matters and the Statistical Department undertakes and occasionally supports research relating to its areas of responsibility. The Forensic Science Service also maintains a central research capability. The Home Office is also one of the largest and most varied Departments of State. It is hence the responsibility of the Home Office Research and Planning Unit to provide research input and advice across a very wide range of business. Not all areas of Home Office responsibility can be covered in equal depth all the time. It is a task of the management of the Research and Planning Unit, in conjunction with its clients within the Home Office, to select, in any given program year, the best distribution of effort. How does the Unit set about this task ? There are two major inputs; firstly, the information needs of policy, and secondly, the current state of academic knowledge. Staff of the Research and Planning Unit are kept constantly aware of the policy and planning agenda of the Home Office through regular consultation and involvement with their administrative colleagues. But it is equally important that they remain in close touch with the state of academic knowledge. Only this joint awareness of policy need and the current state of knowledge can ensure well-planned research efforts. The Home Office Research and Planning Unit, formerly the Home Office Research Unit, was established in 1957. From modest beginnings, the unit has grown in size, providing a service of research and advice to the Home Office on issues relevant to policy and planning, especially as concerns the criminal justice system. The present complement of the unit comprises 46.5 research and scientific officers supported by a small group of administrative staff. The professional staff are organized into small group teams with responsibility for particular areas of work. All professional staff are expected to become involved not only in research but also in the provision of policy planning advice. It is important to emphasize that the existence of the RPU, which now stretches over the last 30 years, is predicated on the assumption that scientific research can provide a rational basis for policy making. While some of this research can be carried on from outside Government, that is to say by universities and other research bodies, the nature of the criminal justice system - and the relatively short time scale involved in administrative and political decisions- is such that it is more practical and more economical to carry out some of this work from within Government. It is the practice of the Home Office to publish the results of research undertaken by the RPU. There are two reasons for this: firstly, research findings which have contributed to social policy should be generally available, so the public debate about social policy can be as informed as possible, and secondly, exposing government research to public scrutiny allows the objectivity of the research to be publicly assessed (and thereby ensures the quality of research). In order to maintain and improve the quality and authority of its publications, all RPU reports intended for official publication are subject to independent academic assessment before issue. Adapted from a presentation delivered by Mary Tucks at the 10th International Congress on Criminology held in Wiesbaden, West Germany, September, 1988. The following is a listing of recent corrections-related research that has been completed or is ongoing within the Home Office Research and Planning Unit. The information was obtained from the research program 1988-89 produced by the Rome Office Research and Planning Unit. 1. Management of the criminal justice system Remand population, Research and Planning Unit, Patricia Morgan. Further investigative work using data collected from the field trials into some or all of the following aspects: area variation in custodial remands - frequency and length of stay; remands partly on bail, partly in custody - failure to appear and reoffending as reasons for remand in custody. 2. Control issues and the long-term prison system Control problems and the longterm prisoner, University of Cambridge, John Ditchfield. An examination of the nature of control problems among long-term prisoners and the way in which they arise, including a study of the circumstances in which prisoners are transferred from normal location. Special units and the long-term prisoner, Research and Planning Unit and Directorate of Psychological Services, Roy Walmsley and John Ditchfield. New special units are being set up for long-term prisoners who present serious control problems. Working closely with the Directorate of Psychological Services, the Research and Planning Unit is coordinating a description and evaluation of these units with some external involvement in the evaluation. 3. Care, treatment and management of mentally-disordered prisoners Psychiatric profile of the prison population, Institute of Psychiatry, Roy Walmsley and John Ditchfield. A study of the nature and the extent of mental disorder among the prison population of England and Wales, including a description of existing arrangements for the management of mentally disordered inmates and the identification of therapeutic needs, in order to facilitate future planning. The therapeutic regime HMP Grendon, University of Oxford, John Ditchfield. HMP Grendon is the only psychiatric prison in the system. Its therapeutic regime has never previously been fully documented. This study will do so and will consider its role within the wider prison system. Suicide in prison: a literature review, Research and Planning Unit, Charles Lloyd. The Working Group on Suicide Prevention has asked for research on this topic. The literature survey will cover all aspects of the subject of suicide and attempted suicide in prisons. 4. Improvement of operation and procedures Programming prison activities, Research and Planning Unit, Chris May. This research project involves testing the already developed computer timetable model and planning the regime for a new prison establishment. Group working in prisons and the Fresh Start, Research and Planning Unit, John Ditchfield. A study of the effects of the introduction of group working and other aspects of the Fresh Start initiative. Operational research on prison transport issues, Research and Planning, Chris May. Studies to assist the efficient management of prison transport operations. Stores management and performance measures, Research and Planning Unit, Chris May. The development of measures to assist stores management and improve information on prison supply operations. Violence to prison staff, Research body to be decided, John Ditchfield. Consideration is being given to conducting research that may assist in the prevention and handling of incidents of violence to prison staff. |
