‘Wales could learn from Texas as increasing numbers jailed’

WALES – recently confirmed as the country with the highest imprisonment rate in western Europe – should seek advice from unlikely overseas locations like Texas on developing credible alternatives, according to a new report.

Although Texas has a hard-line reputation for carrying out more than a third of all executions in the United States since capital punishment resumed in 1976, it has seen a reduction in the number of offenders imprisoned.

Academics from Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre say their analysis of Texas and five other judicial systems shows policy-makers in Wales how they could reverse the trend that sees ever more criminals being jailed.

Last month, the Ministry of Justice announced the creation of 10,000 additional prison places in England and Wales.

Dr Robert Jones, who led the research, said: “Wales currently has the highest imprisonment rate in western Europe and under the current system there appears little prospect of this changing.

“This has been underlined by the UK government’s recent decision to expand the prison estate by a further 10,000 places. Our research into how other countries have tackled their high imprisonment rates shows there are viable alternatives to custodial imprisonment.”

Researchers analysed prison rates and approaches to penal policy in California, New York, Texas, Finland, Portugal and the Netherlands. Central to reform are treatment programmes for substance abusers and rehabilitation measures for offenders.