Professor Rachel Condry to co-lead new Oxford Martin Programme researching alternatives to imprisonment

The Faculty of Law’s Professor Rachel Condry is to co-lead the new Oxford Martin Programme on Decarceration. The programme – one of four tackling important global challenges – will provide the evidence needed to guide safe and effective ways to reduce reliance on imprisonment.

Four topics were selected by the Oxford Martin School from more than 60 applications, based on academic excellence and potential for real-world impact. They will bring together leading researchers and external partners, giving academics the chance to work across departments and disciplines.

The Oxford Martin Programme on Decarceration seeks safer, fairer and more effective alternatives to imprisonment. With incarceration rates at record highs worldwide, including overcrowded prisons in England and Wales, the programme will bring together experts in psychiatry, criminology, law, economics and philosophy. Its aim is to evaluate alternatives such as community sentences, improve decision-making tools, and build evidence to guide sentencing policy. 

By working with policymakers and people with lived experience of the prison system, it will help shape approaches to justice that enhance public safety and community wellbeing.

Professor Condry, who is also Director of the Centre for Criminology at Oxford, said: “I’m delighted that the Oxford Martin School is supporting this vital work on decarceration. Our aim is to develop evidence-based alternatives to imprisonment that promote safety, fairness and social wellbeing, and to work with policymakers and communities to make justice systems more effective and humane.”

The other three newly announced Oxford Martin Programmes will address climate change and child health, equitable allocation of medicines, and forecasting technological change.