Jailing is failing the most disadvantaged. The number of people in prison has increased by nearly 50% since 2000. People from disadvantaged or marginalised groups are far more likely to come into contact with police and prisons than anybody else. Inter-generational poverty, homelessness, lack of education and opportunity, and exposure to constant policing cause more and more young people from disadvantaged communities to be criminalised. We should be providing solutions to disadvantage, not locking people up.
