Written By Hannah Branston
Welcome to the latest Transformative Justice BLAM Blog Series, where we delve into thought-provoking topics that resonate with the core values of justice, policing, and mental health. In this edition, we embark on a journey through the realms of transformative justice, exploring its profound impact on individuals and Black communities. Join us as we navigate the intricate intersections of justice reform, policing methodologies, and the crucial aspect of mental health. Through insightful discussions, case studies, and expert perspectives, we aim to shed light on the transformative potential that lies within a holistic approach to justice. In a world where these issues are more pressing than ever, our blog series aims to foster understanding, promote dialogue, and inspire positive change. Stay tuned for compelling insights and thought-provoking discussions as we navigate the evolving landscape of transformative justice, policing, and mental health.
Criticisms of the State and its systemic failures is not a novel concept. Retributive justice, punishing those for their wrong-doings, in a system with entrenched biases, has continuously failed both victims and perpetrators, and has become a means for the State to discriminate under the pretence of justice, ignoring root causes of crime and harm. In order to prevent the perpetuation of oppression, “we must transform the conditions which help to create acts of violence or make them possible”. Transformative justice aims to do exactly this – breaking the cycle of systemic oppression, harm and incarceration by identifying the root causes of violence and preventing its recurrence via accountability and allowing both victim and perpetrator to learn and heal.
The flaws of the State and its current justice system are evidenced consistently; notably through the policing system, its overt racism and lack of accountability. The 1999 Macpherson Report’s unequivocal finding that the Metropolitan Police Service was institutionally racist, confirmed a disparity which remains more than two decades later – confirmed by the 2023 Casey Report which found the Met to be institutionally racist, sexist, homophobic and in need of radical reform. Clearly the system is not working, and yet the policing system and retributive justice expands. Britain currently has the largest prison population in western Europe, the second largest policing budget per capita in Europe and some of the most intrusive public surveillance measures in the world; yet, the dramatic expansion of policing has been met with a consistent increase of crime (see: government statistics for 2014 compared to government statistics for 2021). Increased policing brings increased racial prejudices, permitting institutional racism to persist within the UK (see: Dame Angiolini’s ‘Independent Review of Deaths and Serious Incidents in Police Custody’).
There is a significant overrepresentation of Black people in the criminal justice system (CJS), a disproportionality which is greater in the UK than in the US (see: Lammy Review, (2017) and Ministry of Justice statistics). The level of discrimination in unfairly targeted stop and searches is ‘at its highest for 20 years’, with Black people being 10 times more likely to be subjected to a suspicion-based stop and search and 43 times more likely to be subjected to a suspicionless stop and search (outside of London) (see: here and here). Institutional structures inherently ‘come with all the biases and injustices we see in the world’ and thus, the system oppresses and isolates already marginalised communities, existing to control, not protect. The brutal nature of the State means the over-representation of Black people in the CJS goes hand in hand with fatal abuses of power. Police-restraint linked deaths are most prevalent in cases of Black deaths in police custody (attributable to 10% of deaths in police custody between 2004/05 and 2014/15), proving the racism of the police force. Excessive deaths of Black people at the hands of police has been recognised by the Government, so the infiltration of prejudices throughout the justice system cannot be denied. Despite commissioning reviews into fatal systemic racism and racist policing, the Government has failed to implement systemic reform and there is no accountability. No officers have been held to account in the criminal courts for the death of a citizen in custody – this lack of accountability proves the failure of the system to uphold its fundamental role of public protection. Protection from accountability defends the institutionally racist system in which the police operate, this cycle needs to change and the entrenched system needs reform.
Transformative Justice, as an abolitionist framework, does not rely on the State, and it actively seeks to avoid the reinforcement and perpetuation of oppression by promoting collective responsibility and response. In the context of State controlled policing, Transformative Justice entails supporting survivors with their healing and working with the person who has harmed to ensure they take accountability. It also involves building community systems to support healing and to take accountability for any harm they were complicit in, building skills to prevent future violence and supporting skills to interrupt violence (See: Mia Mingus, Transformative Justice: A Brief Description). The unmitigated power police possess to do as they please without consequence makes them entirely unsuitable (See: Koshka Duff and others, Abolishing the Police (Dog Section Press 2021), page 31). Racism is ingrained in State structures; the institutionally racist police force cannot be relied on to dependably protect Black citizens and structural inequalities, accentuated by discriminatory policing, require radical reform to address societal harm and influence the necessary change. Transformative Justice can be implemented by reducing the scope of policing and re-funding community-based support systems. Such redistribution of resources strategically moves power away from the militarised police and into social policies, preventing people from experiencing violence and harm at the hands of the State (See: Bernard E Harcourt, The Counterrevolution, How Our Government Went to War Against Its Own Citizens (Basic Books, 2018)).
Thank you for reading, over the next few weeks our BLOG Series will cover
BLOG 2: TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE IN THE CONTEXT OF MENTAL HEALTH
BLOG 3: TRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE SOLUTIONS
BLAM UK CIC 