Maximizing the utility of peer support in carceral settings: A few stumbling blocks to consider
| Author | Christian Perrin |
| Published date | 01 July 2022 |
| Date | 01 July 2022 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1477370820919717 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370820919717
European Journal of Criminology
© The Author(s) 2020
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DOI: 10.1177/1477370820919717
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Maximizing the utility of
peer support in carceral
settings: A few stumbling
blocks to consider
Christian Perrin
University of Liverpool, UK
Abstract
Emerging research advocates prison-based peer support programmes not only for the recipients
of support but also for those providing it. Such programmes are founded on principles such as
reciprocity, shared problem-solving and empathy. Accordingly, there have been recent claims that
such structures may engender a magnified impact in carceral settings characterized by deprivation
and adversity. Specifically, it has been argued that peer supporters garner opportunities to
enact prosocial behaviours and consequently energize desistance narratives while serving time.
However, as intrigue and optimism around this untapped resource grow, so too does the need
to explore any hindrances that might halt progressive developments. This article presents data
from qualitative interviews held with incarcerated peer supporters in the UK. Transcripts of the
institutional challenges that participants faced when undertaking their roles were thematically
analysed, and suggestions for practitioners are offered. The article calls for professionals and
policy makers to further explore the redemptive potential of prison-based peer support.
Keywords
Imprisonment, offending behaviour, desistance, peer support, prison reform, peer work
Introduction
A review of the literature most commonly depicts peer support as a variation of social
and emotional support that rests on the core tenets of mutual reciprocity, shared problem-
solving and empathy (Dennis, 2003; DeVilly et al., 2005; Solomon, 2004). A widely
Corresponding author:
Christian Perrin, Department of Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology, School of Law and Social Justice,
University of Liverpool, Eleanor Rathbone Building, Bedford Street South, Liverpool, Merseyside,
L69 7ZA, UK.
Email: christian.perrin@liverpool.ac.uk
919717EUC0010.1177/1477370820919717European Journal of CriminologyPerrin
research-article2020
Article
2022, Vol. 19(4) 730–745
agreed upon definition of peer support has been offered by Mead, Hilton, and Curtis
(2001: 135), who have delineated it as ‘a system of giving and receiving help that is
founded on key principles of respect, shared responsibility, and mutual agreement of
what is helpful’. It is also broadly accepted that peer supporters must have some joint
interest, investment or prior experience in the context that frames the support being pro-
vided (Gartner and Riessman, 1982; Solomon, 2004). It has been suggested that mutual
closeness to whatever personal challenge is being faced is what makes peer support
especially unique and valuable for the involved parties (Gartner and Riessman, 1982).
These characteristics illuminate why peer support has been increasingly called upon in
health contexts in recent years, and why it may have somewhat of a magnified effect in
the prison context. This latter assertion has been the focus of recent research exploring
the potential redemptive properties of peer-helping.
It has been acknowledged that the implications of peer-helping in prison transcend
the benefits for the recipient (Boothby, 2011; Jaffe, 2012). Indeed, being the help-giver
in prison seems to provide a chance for residents to ‘do good’, ‘give back’ and conse-
quently create healthier practical and narrative identities (see, for example, Boothby,
2011; Perrin and Blagden, 2014; Perrin et al., 2018). Through what have been termed
‘active citizenship’ roles (Edgar et al., 2011), residents earn the opportunity to continu-
ally enact prosocial attitudes and behaviours and energize cognitive shifts that are
underpinned by generativity and redemption plots (Maruna, 2001; McAdams, 2006).
These agentic inputs were invaluable for incarcerated peer supporters in a study con-
ducted by Perrin and Blagden (2014), and a follow-up in 2017 (Perrin et al., 2018). The
former study reviewed the impact of the Samaritans’ ‘Listener Scheme’ (Samaritans is
a UK charity focused on helping individuals with suicidal thoughts). The scheme is
composed of resident volunteers who are trained by the Samaritans to listen to fellow
residents’ feelings of distress and despair (Jaffe, 2012). Employing a phenomenologi-
cal approach, Perrin and Blagden (2014) found that Listener volunteers were able to
reframe their prison experience to a large extent. Participants reported that upholding
such a meaningful role in prison afforded them a sense of purpose, enabled them to
build trust with prison officers, instilled a sense of perspective and self-control, and
allowed them to feel like they were ‘making good’ on the harm they had caused prior
to entering prison. Perrin et al. (2018) conducted a follow-up study exploring a wider
range of peer support roles and found that such roles appear to equip residents with
enhanced confidence and self-esteem, an increased sense of relatedness to others, and
a constructive use of time.
Many of these outputs have clear implications for desistance and represent empiri-
cally supported protective factors (De Vries Robbé et al., 2015; Farrington et al.,
2012). Indeed, research has found that social relationships, self-narrative changes,
having purpose, receiving social support and being believed in are important for ceas-
ing further offending (Göbbels et al., 2012; Maruna et al., 2004). At the very least,
being a peer supporter while serving time appears to afford residents a sense of hope
and a modicum of reassurance that their life is not over (Perrin and Blagden, 2014,
2016). These findings are contributing to a wave of optimism surrounding active citi-
zenship in prison (Edgar et al., 2011; Snow, 2002; Snow and Biggar, 2006); the role
of altruism in treatment contexts (Ward and Durrant, 2013); and the potential for peer
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