The Prisoner Policy Network by David Breakspear
I was invited to a special event, at HMP Coldingley, by the Prison Reform Trust (PRT) which took place on Thursday 31st January. It was an event to launch the first report, ‘What incentives work in prison?’ (<click on link to see full report) produced by the Prisoner Policy Network (PPN). Read more
Creative Writing: A Route to Rehabilitation by Mark Humphries
When the author of this document was recalled to custody he realised that there was an untapped creativity among his peers. Men and women in prison with lots of time on their hands, and the age old prison issue of what to do when banged-up. He had always had an interest in writing stories and poetry and during his work as a peer-mentor at a local prison in Norfolk he started to pen his first novel. Read more
A Discussion of Justice in Relation to Crime and the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act
“Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought. A theory however elegant and economical must be rejected or revised if it is untrue; likewise laws and institutions no matter how efficient and well-arranged must be reformed or abolished if they are unjust. Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. Read more
Crime, Punishment and Faith in Change by Prof Fergus McNeill
Fergus McNeill is Professor of Criminology and Social Work at the University of Glasgow in the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research and in Sociology. Before working in academia he worked in residential drug rehabilitation and as a criminal justice social worker. This is a podcast of a talk he gave exploring the issues of crime, punishment and concepts of rehabilitation. Read more
Value For Money? by David Breakspear
In my experience, during this journey of a reformed man, I have come to realise, that, to some in society, it matters not how much an individual, being released from prison, has turned their life around and rehabilitated. Ready for life in the free world into the supporting arms of an accepting society! Surely that should be the case, should it not? Isn’t that why we have a prison system. Read more
Education, The Way to Rehabilitation by Mark Humphries
Prison can raise many images in our minds. While you might not have given prisons a great deal of thought, I can assure you that when you hear about them on the news, or read about them in your newspaper an image or two appears in you mind. It might be that you see Ronnie Barker in Porridge, or you might have the media presented images of holiday centres, or places of continued rioting going through your mind. Read more