How will these resources help you?

Most RE students will study the aims of punishment at some point, and most will have some ideas about how our prisons should be run and what the ultimate aim should be. However, it is important that we give them a clear and fact-led account of what the different aims of punishment look like in practice – whether it’s to reform the prisoners themselves, to restore justice in each situation or to protect society from a perceived or real danger. These resources offer a wealth of statistics, first-hand accounts and suggestions to help students construct well-informed opinions on a topic that is frequently affected by emotional responses. The concept of restorative justice is not necessarily straightforward. Programmes could not be run in prisons as they stand – the concept needs to be embedded in all levels of a society, with prison no exception. Norway’s approach is a particularly useful example to use as a comparison to British or American systems.