Download Thinking about the idea of a *Thatcherite Legacy*

What was the Legacy of
Thatcherism for the Criminal
Justice System in England &
Wales?
Stephen Farrall (Centre for Criminological
Research, Sheffield Univ).
April 2017, Pint of Science, Sheffield.
Who was Margaret Thatcher?
• Leader of the Conservative Party 1975-90.
• PM of the UK 1979-90.
• Either “the saviour of the nation”
OR
“the Devil incarnate”
depending on your political
beliefs!
Which policies are we most
interested in?
• Economic policies
• Housing policies
• Social security
(esp. after 1986)
• Education policies
(esp. after 1988)
Figure 1: Unemployment Rate (%), 1970-2006
Thatcher’s
period in
office
Major’s
period
in office
Economic Changes
This in turn led to
increases in levels
of inequality
(Figure 2),
augmented by
changes in taxation
policies which
favoured the better
off.
Figure 2: Income Inequality
(Gini coefficient), 1970-2006
Thatcher’s
period in
office
Major’s
period
in office
The Economy and Crime in
Post-War Britain
• We find statistically significant relationships
for:
1: the unemployment rate on the rate of property crime
(more unemployment = more property crime),
2: we also find that the crime-economy link
strengthened during this period.
3: (economic inequality just outside bounds of
significance).
Housing Policy
• 1980 Housing Act (+ others): created RTB
– saw a huge rise in owner-occupation.
• Created residualisation of council housing;
transient/marginalised residents with low
levels of employment.
• Contributed to concentration of social and
economic need ...
• … and then to the concentration of crime.
Social Security
• 1980-1985: Some tinkering with the DHSS.
• 1986 Social Security Act based on Fowler
Review (1984).
• Following this payments reduced for many
individual benefits claimants (whilst total
spend increased due to unemployment).
• We find that increases in welfare spending
are associated with declines in the property
crime rate. (More spending = less crime).
Education
• ‘Choice’ agenda encouraged schools to exclude
poorly performing children to improve league table
position.
• Exclusions rose, reaching a peak of 12,668 in 199697.
• Increased Anti-Social Behaviour (HO RDS Occ. Paper
71).
• Brit. Crime Survey shows a sudden increase in people
reporting “teens hanging around” to be a problem from
an average of 8% before 2001 to 30% after 2002.
• School exclusions helped to create Labour’s
discourse of ASB and need for C&DA 1998.
What happened to crime (etc)?
• Rise in crime (Fig 3). This was generally rising
before 1979, but the rate of increase picked up
after early 1980s and again in early 1990s.
• Fear of crime rises (Fig 4).
• Levels of punitive sentiment rise (Fig 5).
• Changes in priorities for Govt. spending (Fig 6).
Figure 3: Property Crime Per Capita (Home
Office Recorded Statistics and BCS)
Thatcher’s
period in
office
Major’s
period
in
office
Figure 4: Percentage worried about
crime (BCS 1982-2005)
Thatcher’s period in
office
Major’s period
in office
Fig 5: Punitive opinion* (excluding the death
penalty) and recorded crime in England and
Wales, 1980-2013
Thatcher’s
period in
office
Major’s
period in
office
*Based on eight CSE&W and BSAS items relating to sentencing, CJS doing a good job, obeying the law (but
excluding those relating to the death penalty).
Figure 6: Shifting Social Attitudes (BSAS)
Developments post-1993
• Michael Howard (Home Sec 1993-97) talks and acts
tough.
• Prison population rises immediately; rise in average
sentence lengths.
• Due also to stricter enforcement and mandatory
minimum sentences (aimed at burglars and drug
traffickers).
• Prison population grew by 2.5% p.a. from 1945 to
1995, but by 3.8% p.a. 1995-2009 (MoJ, 2009: 4).
Numbers of Prisoners
Prison Popn 1970-2013
1970
1980
1990
year
2000
1970: 39028
Average Prison Popn (Key years):
1979: 42220
1993: 44552
1994: 48621
2010
2013: 84249
Thatcher’s CJS Legacy
Signifiers of Punitiveness
82
Acts (by year of enactment)
84 85 86 88 91 93 94 96 97 98
Decreases in punitiveness
Limits to the use of imprisonment



T1


Increased rights for suspects
Limits to police powers
Empty!

Diverting cases away from Crown Courts
Decreases in actual levels of imprisonment



Increases in punitiveness
Increased post-prison release/community controls




Increases in police powers/resources

Right to silence questioned or amended



Increases in sentence lengths/imprisonment
Mandatory sentences (or similar provisions)
Changes to the burden of proof










T2
T3
T4

T5
T6

Unduly lenient sentences can be appealed
‘Failure to respond’ used in sentencing
Increases in actual levels of imprisonment
More ways
of being
punitive
Increases in youth imprisonment
Changes to case disclosure
Limits to the use of bail









Limits to the decision-making of parole boards
Automatic life sentences
Blurring of civil and criminal law
82
84 85
86 88 91 93 94

96 97 98
Our Modelling …
… suggests that the rate of
incarceration has a negative impact on
the property crime rate. (More prison =
less crime).
BUT Improving economy
also played a part.
Labour Party’s Response
• Move to the political right.
• ‘Tough on crime, tough on the causes of
crime’.
• Focus on ‘young offenders’ (related to
School Exclusions/ and >ASB?).
• Did not oppose Crime (Sentences) Act
1997 despite it being quite draconian (‘3
strikes’, minimum mandatory sentences).
Conclusion
• Thatcherism was a mix of both neo-liberal
and neo-conservative instincts.
• Changes which were driven by neo-liberal
instincts (housing, employment, social
security and education) led to rises in crime.
• Rises in crime increased punitiveness
amongst public/politicians (and with a neoconservative mind-set this meant ‘tougher’
prison sentences).
Conclusion
• Crime rise in 1980s-1990s; changes in public
sentiments about crime in 1990s and early
2000s; and a ‘toughened’ CJS.
• The creation of a new ‘consensus’ on crime.
• Needed shift in Labour’s stance on crime for
this to ossify.
Keeping in Touch
• WEBPAGE:
http://www.sheffield.ac.uk/law/research/projects/crimetrajectories
(Links to papers, talks, documentary film we’ve made, future activities)
• EMAIL NEWSLETTER:
([email protected])
• TWITTER:
@Thatcher_Legacy