Practical responses
Some Churches try to folow Jesus' teaching quite literally, by visiting people in prison. Find out more about the Greenwich Church, a church that tries to live out their faith in the way they treat those in prison, and those released from prison.
Smart Justice campaigns for more alternatives to custody and promotes initiatives that are effective in changing offenders' behaviour, stopping crime before it starts and tackling the causes of crime for adults and young people. They are based at the Prison Reform Trust in London. SmartJustice was initiated by the Network for Social Change, the group behind the Jubilee 2000, Drop the Debt campaign. Their aim is to widen the debate on crime and punishment with the general public and the media, to question the effectiveness of prison for non violent offenders and to campaign for more investment in initiatives that tackle the causes of crime and for better resourced alternatives to custody.
Their work includes public events and regional activities, extensive media coverage, talks to a wide variety of community groups and schools and regular briefings on criminal justice including major surveys, on victims views about how to cut non violent crime, in partnership with Victim Support and a survey on women in prison. They also run targeted campaigns, currently on women and prison, young people and crime and the links between drugs, drink, mental health and crime.
