Coproducing desistance from crime: the role of social cooperative structures of employment

Prison numbers have risen across the UK over the last decade despite a reduction in crime rates. Yet, prison is costly and, by its nature, poorly positioned to support desistance and social integration (MoJ 2010a). Each prison place costs an average of £39,573 in England and Wales (MoJ 2011) and £32,146 in Scotland (Scottish Prison Service 2011) and exerts enduring effects on the social opportunities that enable desistance, and its maintenance, such as employment (Trebilcock 2011). The austerity programme has added impetus to arguments towards reconfiguring criminal justice if only to reduce the costs of re-offending, estimated at between £9.5Bn and £13Bn per year (MoJ 2010b).