Bill Sikes and The Beano Offender Literacy: the facts and the fictions

Dr Michael Rice University of Cambridge Institute of Criminology

A LUMNI WEEKEND

2 010

Offender literacy: the historical assumptions

An instructed and intelligent people . . . Source: Adam Smith (1789), V.i.189

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Unrecorded Illiterate Partlyliterate

Proficient Superior

N

Charged Convicted

Literacy assessments of defendants in France, 1828

Source: Compte Général de l’Administration de Justice Criminelle

Adolphe Quetelet (1796 - 1874)

Offender literacy: what do we know (and is it knowledge)?

Myth I: Offender literacy Source: The Guardian

‘Four out of five prisoners read below the eleven year old standard.’

(Polly Toynbee, 22 June 2010)

‘One-third of all Britain’s prisoners

cannot read or write at all.’ (Jonathan Aitken, 21 June 2005)

The International Adult Literacy Survey 1996

IALS: Literacy Level by Social Class (blue-collar versus white-collar)

in Great Britain Source: Carey (1997), Table A2.6, recalculated

0

5

10

15

20

1 2 3 4 & 5

Literacy level from lowest to highest

Pe

rc

en

tag

e o

f g

en

er

al

po

pu

lati

on

Adult male prisoners in 2002 Reception census and mid-year population by sentence length

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

<12 months 12 months to

<4 years

4 years and

more

Reception

Mid-year

Prisoners’ Information Book 2008

‘Arriving at prison can

be a bewildering and stressful experience.’

USA: Literacy Behind Prison Walls Source: Haigler, Harlow, O’Connor, and Campbell (1994)

'When the variables of sex, race/ethnicity, age, and level of education are held constant, the performance of the prison population on the three literacy scales is comparable to that of the household population. Thus, differences in overall performance between the prison and the household populations may be attributed to differences in demographic composition and educational attainment.’ (xix)

Australia: The Illiteracy Myth Source: Black, Rouse, and Wickert (1990)

'This study, the first serious attempt in Australia to look in some depth at the literacy abilities of prisoners, has made false the claim that many prisoners are illiterate or that their literacy abilities are to any great degree different from those found in the general adult community.’ (11)

Literacy Levels of 37-year-old men in the National Child Development Study

Source: Bynner & Parsons (1997), Table 2.2a

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Below

Foundation

Foundation Level One Level Two

Literacy level from lowest to highest

%

Literacy Levels of NCDS men and PRS men Sources: Bynner & Parsons (1997), Table 2.2a; Rice (1999), Table 4.22

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

BelowFoundation

Foundation Level One Level Two

Literacy level from lowest to highest

%

NCDS PRS

Prisoner literacy levels:ALBSU and PRS Sources: ALBSU (1994); Rice (1999), Table 4.22

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Below

Foundation

Foundation Level One Level Two

Literacy level from lowest to highest

%

ALBSU PRS

Adult male prisoners in 2002 Reception census and mid-year population by sentence length

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

<12 months 12 months to

<4 years

4 years and

more

Reception

Mid-year

Developmental dyslexia in adults: a research review (2004)

Offender employability: what do we know (and is it knowledge)?

Myth II: Offender employability Source: Centre for Social Justice (2009)

‘It is estimated that at least half of our prisoners, approximately 40,000, do not possess the skills required by over 95 per cent of jobs.’

Mean Reading Skills Needed - England and Wales

(Source: Atkinson & Spilsbury, 1993)

0 1 2 3 4

Other Manual Jobs

Plant, Vehicle &Machine

SkilledCraft/Manual

Selling

Personal Service

Clerical/Secretarial

All Jobs

Access to Employment Opportunities by Basic Skill Competences

(Source: Atkinson & Spilsbury, 1993)

0

20

40

60

80

100

No Skill Partial Skill Foundation Level One Level Two Level Three

PRS: employment status at the time of arrest Source: Rice (1999)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Working:employed

Working:self-

employed

Not working:previouslyemployed

Not working:previously

self-employed

Never ingainful

employment

%

Employment status at the time of arrest by occupational class

Source: Rice (1999)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

I & II III (n-m) III (m) IV V

N

Working when arrested Not working when arrested

Bill Sikes and his dog as drawn by Fred Barnard

The Beano Thursday 10 March, 1954

‘The public role of criminology . . . is to use knowledge to challenge myth and falsehood (from wherever it hails) and

to make it possible to prevent and control crime in ways that are more

rational and evidence-based.’

Ian Loader & Richard Sparks, in Public Criminology (2010)