Prison research: expanding our network
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-12-2017-0044 |
| Date | 05 February 2018 |
| Pages | 1-2 |
| Published date | 05 February 2018 |
| Author | Bill Davies |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Criminal psychology,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Deviant behaviour,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice |
Bill Davies
Prison research: expanding our network
The special edition of the Journal of Criminal Psychology that the Prison Research Network
presents here is, as is usual for us, an eclectic collection of work that represents the scope of our
member’s interests. The title of our collection, “Prison Research: expanding our network”can be
read as both an opportunity for us to showcase the growth of our network over the past year,
and as a call for any interested parties to join our growing ranks.
As a network,we are still relatively small,with approximately 80 members,but this is a membership
base that representsa vast array of academic and professional knowledgearound the broad topic
of imprisonment, be that the direct experiences of those at the front line, prisoners and staff; or
those that are impacted by association, such as families of those associated with imprisonment.
To date, we have held three annual conferences, eachwith high-profile key note speakers. At our
inaugural event in April 2015, Professor Nick Hardwick, then the Chief Inspector of Prisons, and
now the Chairof the Parole Board, gave a speechon “The case for evidence based prison policy”.
This was followed a year later, when, in April 2016, we welcomed Frances Crook OBE, the Chief
Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, who spoke aboutthe ongoing problems with
sentencing, politics and prisons. This year, we were joined by Professor Shadd Marunafrom the
Universityof Manchester who highlighted the newdirections that desistance researchis moving in.
We are currentlyin the planning stages of the 2018conferences and would welcome abstracts for
papers and or membership enquiries to Dr Linda Asquith at l.m.asquith@leedsbeckett.ac.uk or
through twitter @PRisoN_network.
The collection of papers within this edition begins with an examination, by Danks and Bradley,
into prisoner and staff perspectives of mental well-being and barriers to accessing and providing
support. From this starting point, we present work from Kelly and her ground-breaking research
on the experiences of d/Deaf prisoners. At this point, we move to the work of Woodall and
Kinsella, and their research on family visits. Moving away from the experiences of prisoners
per se, we then discuss democratic therapeutic community prisons through the work of Bennett
and Shuker. Towards the end of the edition, we look at autism through the work of Allely, before
finishing with King’s paper on cultural and convict criminology.
The first paper by Kara Danks and Alexandria Bradley is a qualitative paper that examines the
lived experiences of how prisoners and staff within a category D male prison negotiate barriers to
accessing and providing support for mental well-being. Through the use of focus groups with
prisoners and interviews with staff, Danks and Bradley identify the need for greater information
sharing, better peer support and updated policy as a start for how to move forward.
From mental well-being, and the issues that arise within prison, we move to the lived experiences
and well-being of another demographic of prisoners, those who are d/Deaf. Prison is a strictly
regimented environment where prisoners must follow orders. Kelly, through her research, shows
us just how difficult following instructions can be when you cannot understand them or
communicate with those who are giving them. The research shows that the prison service
(as was) could not address effectively the additional pains of imprisonment that d/Deaf prisoners
are subjected to over their hearing peers.
Staying with the survivability of prison, and what measures can be used to minimise the impact of
imprisonment, Woodall and Kinsella show the scale of value that a prison visitor’s centre has on
the well-being of a prisoner, and on their wider family. The importance of prison visits for both the
Bill Davies is a Senior Lecturer
in Criminology at Leeds
Beckett University, Leeds, UK
DOI 10.1108/JCP-12-2017-0044 VOL. 8 NO. 1 2018, pp. 1-2, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2009-3829
j
JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY
j
PAG E 1
Guest editorial
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