Ben Crewe, Susie Hulley and Serena Wright, Life Imprisonment from Young Adulthood: Adaptation, Identity and Time
| Author | Anna Kotova |
| DOI | 10.1177/1462474520928132 |
| Date | 01 January 2021 |
| Published date | 01 January 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
ORCID iD
Chrysanthi Leon https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8210-7658
Chrysanthi Leon
University of Delaware, USA
Ben Crewe, Susie Hulley and Serena Wright, Life Imprisonment from Young
Adulthood: Adaptation, Identity and Time, Palgrave Macmillan: London,
2020; XXII, 340 pp., ISBN: 9781137566003, £79.99(hbk)
A life sentenceis the ‘most extreme sanction of thestate’ (p. 1) in the absence of capital
punishment. Despite the fact that England and Wales does not sentence people who
offended to hundreds of years in prison (like the US), the two introductory chapters
outline how and why sentences have increased, and set out the context for the
research. It is perhaps not surprising that being sentenced to a long term in prison
at a young – and thusformative – age would be both traumaticand disruptive of one’s
social identity.Crewe, Hulley and Wrightset out to explore in rich empirical detailthe
types and manner of the trauma and disruptions involved. In doing so, this work
addresses a significant gap withinthe existing literature. The impactof long sentences
on men and women in prison have not to date received much academic attention,
despite the value that lies in understanding better whether the well-known pains and
deprivations of imprisonment (Sykes, 2007) are exacerbated by long sentences.
The research this book is based on is ambitious indeed, with over 300 male and
female participants, representing a significant proportion of men and women sen-
tenced to life before the age of 26. The participants were drawn from a wide range
of prisons in England and Wales, thus strengthening the case for arguing that the
findings may be applicable to the population as a whole. The inclusion of women
allowed for an insightful analysis of the ways in which gender shaped the prison
experience. The authors, however, do recognise one key limitation: those who were
transferred to secure psychiatric hospitals, which was a significant minority of
eligible people, were excluded. Thus, these findings may not be applicable to
those with ‘the most acute psychological and psychiatric difficulties’ (p. 61).
The authors were clearly able to engage their participants and elicit in-depth
responses about a range of highly emotive and deeply personal issues. This is
indeed a credit to their approach to data collection and the rapport built with
their participants. For example, there was striking discussion of flashbacks of what
happened during the index offence: one woman described this vividly:
It was like it was happening again, I was there all over again, I could smell it, I could
hear it, I could see it. Sometimes, I could feel the heat, I’d feel the heat [of the victim set
on fire]. (p. 101)
132 Punishment & Society 23(1)
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