There is still-growing interest in narrative in the context of offender rehabilitation. Recent moves towards a 'narrative criminology' have referenced literary theory and the tools of literary criticism, and have demanded exchange with other disciplines. This article responds with an examination of how a humanities-informed literary critical analysis might complement and extend social science's understanding of narrative work with offenders. The article analyses how and to what effect literary fiction is used in prisons and probation. Against the broader background of findings from prison literature programmes, it offers an in-depth analysis of the work of the Berlin prison theatre company aufBruch, from a literary critical as well as a narrative criminological perspective. With reference to Maruna's notion of the 'redemption script' and more recent narrative criminology, as well as to literary and cognitive theory and experimental psychology, it is suggested that an understanding of how literary fiction 'works' may enhance the theory and practice of narrative work with offenders.

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Powerful narratives that invoke religious concepts—jihad, Sharia, shahid, Caliphate, kuffar, and al-Qiyāmah—have accompanied jihadi violence but also inspired robust counter-narratives from Muslims. Taking a narrative criminological approach, we explore the rejection of religious extremism that emerges in everyday interactions in a religious community under intense pressure in Western societies. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 90 young Muslims in Norway, we argue that young Muslims suffer epistemic injustice in their narrative exclusion from the mainstream and assess the narrative credibility they try to maintain in the face of marginalization. We suggest that young Muslims’ religious narratives reject a mainstream characterization of Islam as essentially a religion of aggression and simultaneously join forces with that mainstream in seeking the narrative exclusion of the jihadi extremists.

Background Many people receiving medical treatment in Switzerland speak none of the country’s four languages or English, which is a major communicative barrier for health staff. Appropriate treatment in hospitals depends on the successful communication between hospital staff and patients. Consequently, migrant patients can be particularly challenging for hospital staff. Aims The aim of this project was to examine the following topics: (a) which communicative challenges hospital nurses are confronted with in the care of migrant paediatric patients and how they cope with them, and (b) what requirements nurses (and other stakeholders) have regarding a digital communication aid to improve the care of migrant paediatric patients in the hospital setting. Methods This study used a qualitative approach. The following steps of data collection were undertaken: (a) two literature searches corresponding to the research questions, (b) a focus group interview with paediatric hospital nurses, (c) observation of communication between paediatric nurses/healthcare professionals and children/parents through shadowing, (d) short interviews with paediatric nurses who were being shadowed, and (e) a focus group interview with experts. Data analysis was based on thematic analysis and was supported by MAXQDA software. Results Evaluation of the data showed there are multiple communicative challenges that emerge in the care of migrant paediatric patients. These challenges influence each other and appear at different moments in the hospital stay. Additionally, the results revealed that digital communication aids must be user friendly and easily accessible. Conclusions This study highlights the areas of hospital care in which a digital communication aid could be feasible. However, many of the described communication challenges stem from issues that cannot be solved solely with a digital communication aid. Instead, strategies to tackle these issues must be embedded in the training of nursing staff, in the hospital management strategy and at the political level.

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