What’s MC² all about?

For many years Anne Peaker Centre has been all too aware of the over-representation of people from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds throughout the criminal justice system.

• At the end of June 2005 almost 25% of the male prison population and 28% of the female prison population were from Black or Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds.
• Over 1/3 of the BME prisoner population or 12% of the overall prison population are Foreign Nationals from 168 different countries.
• In 2004/2005 Black people were six times more likely to be stopped and searched under Section 1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 compared to White people, and Asian people were twice as likely.

With this in mind, Anne Peaker Centre has decided to explore the issues and challenges that this overrepresentation raises for the way in which arts activity is delivered in criminal justice settings. Although we know that all our member organisations always aim to be inclusive in the work they do with (ex) offenders, we also know that there is currently a lack of information available to them on how best to engage and meet the diverse needs of everyone they come into contact with. The MultiCulture2 (MC2) project will help examine these issues more closely and develop appropriate responses.

Funded by the Lankelly Chase Foundation, the MC2 project will examine the extent to which arts practitioners are taking into account principles of diversity and cultural relevance in their work and how far good practice is reaching in this field. MC2 will help highlight some of the excellent work we know is already going on and ensure this work continues to grow and expand across the country. The overall aim is to develop and implement a plan to help improve and sustain provision in this area.

What do we want to achieve?

During the first year the MC2 will pursue the following objectives:

• Gain a proper understanding of the cultural and rehabilitative needs of people from diverse backgrounds who are currently represented in the CJS
• Identify current good practice and gaps in provision
• Consider the development of a national training programme or other appropriate responses to promote good practice in the field

The outcome of this work will largely determine our aims and objectives for the following two years, however we expect that this will involve a programme of dissemination and information sharing, plus the rollout of a national training programme to support practitioners working in this field.

Next steps?

Anne Peaker Centre firmly believes that it is essential for this work to be informed by and set in the broader strategic context of current agendas in the arts and criminal justice sectors. We have recruited a steering group to help inform and guide its development. In addition to ensuring that we have representation from arts organisations and practitioners who are demonstrating good practice in this area, we also want to ensure we engage representatives from the key criminal justice and arts agencies as well as operational staff from the prison and probation services.

How can I get involved?

As always, Anne Peaker Centre is very keen to collaborate and work with organisations and individuals with an interest and expertise in this area including practitioners, service users, policy makers, researchers, academics etc.

There will be many ways you can get involved in its development so if you would like to be kept informed of how it is progressing and the ways you can contribute please register you interest by contacting Dawn Cameron, Arts Diversity Development Officer, through APC at info@apcentre.org.uk 

update

MC² – An International Perspective on the Cultural Wellbeing of BME Offenders

In early 2008 Anne Peaker Centre’s MC2 staff and steering group worked intensively with Penny Eames, an arts consultant with an international reputation for her excellent research around the concept of “cultural wellbeing”. We had the opportunity to work with Penny through Creative Exchange, the network for culture and development based in London. Penny has worked extensively with Maori prisoners in New Zealand, and has delivered training and consultancies for the prison services in Australia and South Africa. She also has significant expertise in arts and health.

Penny worked with the MC2 steering group at their away day in January, and consulted with a range of specialist organisations who are focusing on cultural diversity. Her findings are presented in her report: Cultural Provision for Black, Ethnic and Minority Offenders in Criminal Justice settings in England and Wales. The report outlines recommendations for development of culturally relevant creative programmes for BME offenders, and suggestions for advocacy, professional development and capacity building, to enable the sector to respond to the needs and interests of BME and foreign national offenders identified in the report.

This report is now available on our Evidence and Research pages

Some interesting background reading

Below is a list of background reading on recent issues/developments related to arts diversity as well as race and equality issues within the CJS. It is not meant to be exhaustive by any means and certainly we would welcome your suggestions on other useful reading and resources that are available in this area.

As the project progresses it will be updated with further information...

Arts Diversity in the CJS

• Coming Soon: “Scoping Review: The Arts with Black and Ethnic Minority Offenders”, Anne Peaker Centre

  N.B (Previous Version: "Nuff Respect", published in 1998, (still available on request).

Arts Diversity (more generally)

• Heather Maitland (ed) (2006) “Navigating Difference – cultural diversity and audience development” Arts Council England, London

  A recent Arts Council publication that discusses the relevance of cultural diversity and cultural identity to the arts.

• Arts Council of England (2005) “Decibel Legacy” ACE, London

  Decibel is an Arts Council England initiative set up to develop and support culturally diverse arts. This document provides an overview of the aims and objectives of Decibel as well as a description of the programme of activity that took place and plans for the future.

• TMPL Consultants for ACE (2005) “Decibel Evaluation – key findings” Arts Council England, London

  This document examines the impact that the Decibel programme had on the development of culturally diverse artists, arts professionals and arts organisations.

Race issues/statistics within the CJS

• Home Office (2006) “Section 95 Criminal Justice Act 1991, Race and the Criminal Justice System: an overview to the complete statistics 2004-2005” [PDF], Criminal Justice Race Unit, London

  The Home Office publishes this report annually; it is the main source of information on Black and Minority Ethnic groups’ experiences as suspects, offenders, victims and employees of the Criminal Justice System.

• Adams (2006) “Race Audit of Social Policy Areas - A Snapshot of Black and Ethnic Minority Communities in the UK” [pdf], 1990s Trust

  The 1990s Trust is an independent organisation promoting the interests of Britain's Black communities. This report includes and overview of BME issues in the CJS as well as other social policy areas e.g. education, health, employment etc.

• Prison Reform Trust (2006) “Bromley Briefings – Prison Fact File” [PDF] Prison Reform Trust

  Published each year by the Prison Reform Trust, this edition of the Bromley Briefings gives a profile of the make-up of the UK prison population (including minority ethnic prisoners) but it also examines issues around the prevalence of mental illness, the growth of the imprisonment of children and young people and the relationships between alcohol, drugs and crime etc.

• The Home Affairs Committee Inquiry into the Young Black People and the CJS (2007) - “Young Black People and the Criminal Justice System”

  This report is the first sustained inquiry into the overrepresentation of young Black people in the criminal justice system in more than a quarter of a century. The inquiry aimed to establish the full range of possible causes of young Black people’s overrepresentation in the system.

Race Equality Schemes and Diversity Initiatives

The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 placed a statutory duty on public bodies to have due regard to the need to promote race equality. A subsequent Order issued in 2001 set out specific duties to help public bodies meet their obligations under the Act. One of these duties requires the publication of a Race Equality Scheme (RES)

National Probation Service

Heart of the Dance – NPD diversity Scheme [PDF]

Race Equality Scheme [PDF]

HM Prison Service

Race Equality Scheme

YJB

Race Equality Scheme [PDF]

Arts Council of England

Race Equality Scheme [PDF]

Respond: A practical resource for developing a race equality action plan