AbstractPrison visits by academics are controversial. While they can provide an insight into penal practice, prisoner researchers warn against such visits as spectacles of degradation. In this article I examine the value of a series of prison visits for comparative research. Drawing on my own experiences and those of, among others, John Howard and John Pratt, I argue that prison visits, if ethically conducted and reflectively considered, offer benefits for investigating comparative penal practice. They can consider the self‐presentation of the prison, material conditions (including the sounds, smells and the sights), and possibly, where the script allows it, a glimpse beyond the façade of official prison discourse. As such, they have merit, in particular in the early stages of a comparative project.
This article explores arts practitioners’ methods in leading workshops with prisoners as part of the Inspiring Change pilot, a co‐ordinated pilot programme of arts interventions that took place in five Scottish prisons throughout 2010. Session review forms, which were completed by arts practitioners after each session, were designed to find out what happened in sessions, what worked well with prisoners in these sessions and what did not. Very little has been written on the arts practitioners’ methods and, in particular, the data gathered from session review forms. This article discusses the data gathered and three themes that came out of the arts practitioners’ responses including ‘Response to planned activity’, ‘Response to working in a prison environment’, and ‘Development of skills for participants’. The article concludes that documenting arts practitioners’ practice can contribute to the understanding of the connection and role of the arts in desistance studies.
Probation matters because of its role in creating a humane justice system. At probation's core is a value base which unites the profession and has been sustained through political change. The politically driven restructuring of probation through ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’ did not build on probation's achievements, nor was it evidence led. International examples show the negative impact of privatisation if values are secondary to profit. The fragmentation of service provision and removal of the requirement of a unifying probation qualification framework also pose major threats to the profession. The new Probation Institute will be important in maintaining professional identity and standards.
AbstractChild sexual exploitation (CSE) is a hidden and growing problem. Here, we consider the extent to which hotel environments present opportunities to sexually exploit children and young people; and the challenges which might be encountered in attempts to address this and disrupt offenders. There is a dearth of research on this topic and during the course of our discussion we reflect on data which emerged from a small‐scale, exploratory study in which we sought the views of hotel staff and professionals working in the safeguarding field. We conclude by examining the implications of our work for safeguarding policy and practice.
Research has shown that a significant proportion of young people in custody have experienced some form of abuse and/or loss in their lives. This article uses the biographies of three young men (all serving custodial sentences) to elucidate the feelings that experiences of this nature can engender. Crucially, none of the three was effectively helped to resolve their experiences. The article goes on to argue that more needs to be done to identify and support traumatised young people in custody. The article concludes that, while the CHAT: Secure tool may go some way to better identifying those needing support, an individual's reluctance to disclose their traumatic experiences in the first place may limit the tool's efficacy.
