Beyond the headlines

What BRITONS THINK about crime and justice

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Course Correction · Common Ground Justice Project & More in Common, 2025

What should the criminal justice system prioritise?

% selecting each priority (up to 3 choices) — click a filter to explore different views and watch priorities shift

The national picture: Britons across all segments broadly agree on accountability and proportionality, but differ sharply on rehabilitation and early intervention.

0%10%20%30%40%50%

Source: National polling (n=5,010), UK adults 18+, November 2024. Learn more →

Britons want major change to the justice system

% of each voter segment saying the criminal justice system needs major changes — a view held by a clear majority across every part of society.

64%

of all Britons want major change

By segment

Source: Course Correction, More in Common / Common Ground Justice Project, 2025.

Does going to prison reduce reoffending?

Explore how different parts of the public view prison’s impact on whether someone commits another crime.

Britons are more likely to think prison increases reoffending than reduces it – and no segment thinks it works well.

Only 1 in 5 Britons believe prison makes someone less likely to commit another crime – scepticism that cuts across political lines, extending even to the most punishment-first segments.

30%

say prison makes reoffending more likely

35%

say prison has no impact on reoffending

21%

say prison makes reoffending less likely

Source: Common Ground Justice Project & More in Common, national poll Feb–Mar 2025 (n=1,998 GB adults).

Punishment vs Rehabilitation

We asked the public whether they prioritise punishment or rehabilitation, on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 was fully punishment and 5 was fully rehabilitation. Britons broadly fall into three groups in their attitudes towards criminal justice reform: the punishment-first group (45 per cent of Britons), the balancer group (29 per cent of Britons) and the rehabilitation-first group (26 per cent of Britons).

Punishment-first · 45%

Loyal Nationals

Disengaged Traditionalists

Backbone Conservatives

Balancers · 29%

Disengaged Battlers

Civic Pragmatists

Established Liberals

Rehabilitation-first · 26%

Progressive Activists

1 – Prioritise punishment 5 – Prioritise rehabilitation

Source: Course Correction, More in Common / Common Ground Justice Project, 2025.

Punishment vs Rehabilitation – British Seven Segments

Punishment vs rehabilitation – by segment

Please indicate which of the following statements comes closer to your view, using a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 indicates you agree fully with the first statement and 5 indicates you agree fully with the second statement.

1 – Prioritise punishment

2

3

4

5 – Prioritise rehabilitation

← Punishment Rehabilitation →

Source: Course Correction, More in Common / Common Ground Justice Project, 2025.

Support for expanding use of community sentences

Support for using community sentences instead of prison for certain offenders, by voter segment — and the impact of adding a prison backstop for non-compliance.

Support (without backstop) Additional support with prison backstop

Source: More in Common, March 2025 · Figures show % who support
Prison backstop: if an offender does not comply with their community sentence, it could become a prison sentence.