Are Hope and Possibility Achievable in Prison?

Abstract

There is both hope and frustration in this article. A recent research exercise in a prison found it to be inspirational in its ethos, relationships and mission. Prisoners talked passionately about their experiences in it and its impact on their personal development. But prisoners received very little resettlement support and things sometimes went wrong as soon as they were released, not because of any ‘moral failings’ on their part, but because they could not even navigate the journey ‘home’. It looked like everything we know cumulatively about ‘better prisons’, but its prisoners were failed as they transitioned out. More ‘tragic imagination’ is required in penal policy.

‘Giving back and getting on with my life’: Peer mentoring, desistance and recovery of ex-offenders

“…Criminal justice personnel are key to supporting the desistance process and can generate a sense of hope and optimism, through recognising potential to perform the role of peer mentor. The impact of providing hope to offenders is a key advancement in criminological research (see Liebling et al, 2019; Van Ginneken, 2015). Negative labelling from the criminal justice system can impair self-efficacy to progress into positions of trust and responsibility, whereas positive affirmation from significant others can generate a ‘looking-glass self’ (Cooley, 1902) and can increase self-efficacy:I was on an order at the time and my drug worker and probation officer were encouraging me to be a peer mentor, because I was testing negative (drug tests) all the time.…”

Time Well Spent: Misery, Meaning, and the Opportunity of Incarceration

“…Enabling environments nurture and promote personal growth and prisons can be structured so that they are more than just safe and secure facilities (Liebling et al . ). Prisons can be a ‘reinventive institution’ where opportunities to derive meaning exist above and beyond that offered by formal programming (Crewe and Ievins in press).…”

“…People in prison for long sentences, including for the rest of their life, are uniquely positioned to find meaning in the support and mentoring of others on the yard (Kreager et al 2017). Enabling environments nurture and promote personal growth and prisons can be structured so that they are more than just safe and secure facilities (Liebling et al 2019). Prisons can be a 'reinventive institution' where opportunities to derive meaning exist above and beyond that offered by formal programming (Crewe and Ievins in press).…”

Conceptualising ‘success’ among Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentenced offenders with personality-related difficulties

“…The lack of progression and control, and the indeterminateness of the sentence manifested in prolonged feelings of anxiety, frustration and hopelessness. Previous research has suggested that indeterminately sentenced prisoners feel ‘ stuck in the system ’; experiencing ‘ prison pain ’ and the ‘ stress of helplessness ’ in relation to the impact of uncertainty, indeterminacy and ‘ not knowing ’ (Liebling, 2011; Liebling and Price, 2001; Liebling et al, 2019; Merola, 2015; Rutherford et al, 2008). Synonymous with the theme ‘ limbo ’, Nurse et al (2003), linked a lack of communication within the CJS to heightened anxiety among staff, while reciprocal negative attitudes among staff and prisoners reinforced a ‘ circle of stress ’ throughout the CJS.…”