Cambridge Socio-Legal Group Seminar: 'Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP): Politics, policy and protest'

Speaker: Sophie Ellis, University of Cambridge

Abstract: The Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentenced was introduced in 2005, abolished in 2012 but not retrospectively, and recently described as “irredeemably flawed” by the Justice Select Committee, due to the catalogue of evidence of its consequences for mental health, suicides, vast disparities between time served and offences committed, and its effect of ‘muddying the waters’ of effective risk assessment. It was an extreme sentencing experiment, aimed at dealing with ‘dangerous offenders’, imprisoning them indefinitely on the basis of what they might do, not what they had done. The IPP sentence is an extraordinary episode in the history of English sentencing and imprisonment for a number of reasons. It introduced the possibility of imprisonment for life, for 153 offences, most of which lay outside the range of offences that could attract a life sentence proper. It formed part of a pinnacle of professional hubris about the ability to deliver personalised punishment and rehabilitation, perfectly suited to every individual. It is perhaps the only sentence in which one of the most ardent campaigners for complete abolition, is the Home Secretary who introduced it. It has prompted organised political action in which key actors are the families of people serving the sentence, together with a cross-party coalition of parliamentarians, and professionals who were united in their condemnation of the sentence in their evidence to the Justice Select Committee inquiry. It is a stain on the justice system (a phrase coined by former supreme court justice Lord Brown) that is politically unworkable – but also seen as politically untouchable. This seminar will discuss the documented problems of IPP and its trajectory in the political, official and campaigning landscapes of criminal justice.

Bio: I am an interdisciplinary researcher in psychology and criminology, with experience in both research and in applied psychology practice. My main interest is in the relationship between the ‘psy’ disciplines and criminal justice institutions, particularly those that punish. I am currently undertaking my PhD, studying the history and sociology of psychologists working in prisons, through exploration of historical archives, and interviews with psychologists who have worked in prisons.

This will be a hybrid event. If you are in Cambridge please do join us in G24 in the Faculty of Law. If you are unable to make it, you can watch and submit questions by registering to attend remotely.

Find out more about the Socio-Legal Group.