The Benefits of Social Capital for the Wrongfully Convicted: Considering the Promise of a Resettlement Model
| Published date | 01 December 2018 |
| Date | 01 December 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12283 |
| Author | CAROLYN HOYLE,LAURA TILT |
The Howard Journal Vol57 No 4. December 2018 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12283
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 495–517
The Benefits of Social Capital for the
Wrongfully Convicted: Considering
the Promise of a Resettlement Model
CAROLYN HOYLE and LAURA TILT
Carolyn Hoyle is Professor of Criminology, and Laura Tilt is DPhil candidate,
Centre for Criminology, University of Oxford
Abstract: The Miscarriages of Justice Support Service (MJSS) is the only source of
support and assistance provided by the State for the wrongfully convicted. Drawing on
original data, this article demonstrates that while its aftercare provision has successfully
met the practical needs of the wrongfully convicted, clients have emotional, psychological,
and social needs that are not attended to. While the ‘rightfully’ convicted will be offered
services following release from prison to help them to reintegrateinto society, those released
after the Court of Appeal has found their convictions to be unsafe do not receive such
support. Drawing on literature that adopts a resettlement framework for ex-prisoners, the
authors argue that such an approach could better respond to the needs of the wrongfully
convicted. In particular, this may help the wrongfully convicted to reconnect with social
networks, to take advantage of social capital and to thereby rebuild their spoiled identities.
Keywords: resettlement; social capital; trauma; wrongful conviction
Having a home, employment or a vocation, enough money to live comfort-
ably, and mutually supportive relationships are necessary but insufficient
conditions for people to function effectively and contentedly in society.
It is the somewhat hidden sense of self and sense of identity that is key
to good mental health and, in particular, to recovery from the trauma of
wrongful conviction and imprisonment, a trauma that spoils identities.1
Imprisonment, especially for a long time, disrupts life trajectories and the
structures that support us: jobs, finances, and families. Prisoners there-
fore need to rebuild their lives upon release ( Appleton 2010; Geest et al.
2016; Liebling and Maruna 2005; Petersilia 2003; Western 2002), being
mindful of lost social capital and damaged identities: Sampson and Laub
(1993), among others (Becker 1963; Goffman 1963; Kim 2014; Lemert
1967; Pager 2003; Visher and Travis 2003) showed how imprisonment can
impact on a person’s ability to retain those networks of shared norms, val-
ues, and understandings that define and support us and help us to make
sense of the world (Stets and Burke 2000). These networks of significant
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2018 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
The Howard Journal Vol57 No 4. December 2018
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 495–517
relationships protect and reinforce our shared understandings of the so-
cial world in which we live and thereby engender mutual trust, which is
vital for our mental health and resilience. Such prosocial networks can be
described as ‘social capital’ (Coleman 1988); they are a powerful resource
for those affected by imprisonment (Sampson and Laub 1993).2
Individuals accumulate social resources, support, and networks
throughout their lives, that enable them to take advantage of opportunities
and services within their communities far more easily than they could as
isolated individuals (Almedom 2005). Social capital relies on active partic-
ipation, on the social or moral obligations of members of the network to
contribute and support others, so that all can draw on assistance (Bourdieu
1986). As such, networks need to be nurtured and the estrangement from
these networks caused by imprisonment, particularly long-term imprison-
ment, is damaging. In short, absence from our networks, in the physical
and emotional seclusion of prison, ruptures our social capital, and while it is
most deleterious to the prisoner,it inevitably injures the wider community.
As Geest et al. (2016) note:
Incarceration not only instantaneously interrupts life-course domains such as inti-
mate relations, schooling, and employment, but may also reduce future opportu-
nities to reconnect to these domains . . . (p.110)
For the wrongfully convicted, the impact on social capital can be far more
destructive as an undeserved penalty and label spoils their identity; it
creates a schism between how the world sees them – as an offender –
and how they feel – as an innocent person unjustly incarcerated.3Upon
release, the wrongfully convicted are left to try to rebuild their lives with
the additional burden of trauma caused by that sense of injustice; trauma
that impacts on their identity and their trust in others, particularly those
thought to represent the State. At the same time, the only support provided
by the State – the Miscarriages of Justice Support Service (MJSS) – is not
intended to address this emotional and psychological trauma.4Drawing on
data collected from the MJSS, this article examines what is offered by the
State to the wrongfully convicted, what needs are met by this assistance,
and what gaps are left. It then moves on to consider if the needs of the
wrongfully convicted would be better met by a resettlement approach.
An Empirical Study of the Miscarriages of Justice Support Service
(MJSS)
The MJSS, established in 2003, is a free and independent advice service
operated by ‘RCJ Advice’, a Citizens Advice service based in the Royal
Courts of Justice (RCJ), catering to certain victims of wrongful conviction.
The MJSS is the only sanctioned support service for those individuals who
fall within its ‘remit’: those whose convictions have been overturned by the
Court of Appeal in England and Wales following a referral by the Criminal
Cases Review Commission (CCRC), or those who have been successful in
an appeal ‘out of time’5in England and Wales.6While functioning as an
independent body,the organisation is funded by the Ministry of Justice. Its
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2018 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
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