The Penal Voluntary Sector

Tomczak, Philippa

doi:10.4324/9781315641423

Cited by 43 publications

(78 citation statements)

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“…The penal landscape has changed considerably in recent decades with increasing numbers of voluntary sector organisations delivering interventions and services alongside public and private sector organisations (Gojkovic, Mills and Meek ; Wyld and Noble ). Dubbed the penal voluntary sector in the UK (Carey and Walker ; Corcoran ; Tomczak , , ), volunteers and philanthropists have had an established presence in modern penal systems. The creation of a mixed economy of criminal justice in England and Wales over the course of the last three decades has significantly boosted the involvement of the penal voluntary sector (see Maguire , pp.484–5).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much of the literature on this changing landscape focuses on structural organisation and strategic goals, with some exceptions (see Salole ; Tomczak ). There is a scarcity of data which articulate the complexities of the grass‐roots operations of a sector which comprises several thousand diverse organisations: varied in size, scope, roles, functions, ambitions, service users, and relationships to the commissioning processes and supply chains of the penal market (Tomczak , pp.473–4, 479–80, , pp.76–80, 172, 175; Wyld and Noble ). Research is needed to increase understanding of the motivations, practices of frontline workers, and ‘below the radar activities’ (Soteri‐Proctor and Alcock ) which are poorly understood (Tomczak and Albertson ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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From the Outside In: Narratives of Creative Arts Practitioners Working in the Criminal Justice System

Simpson

Morgan

Caulfield

2019

Howard J Crime Justice

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The penal voluntary sector is highly variegated in its roles, practices and functions, though research to date has largely excluded the experiences of frontline practitioners. We argue that engaging with the narratives of practitioners can provide fuller appreciation of the potential of the sector's work. Though life story and narrative have been recognised as important in offender desistance (Maruna 2001), the narrative identities of creative arts practitioners, who are important 'change agents' (Albertson 2015), are typically absent. This is despite evidence to suggest that a practitioner's life history can be a significant and positive influence in the rehabilitation of offenders (Harris 2017). Using narratological analysis (Bal 2009), this study examined the narratives of 19 creative practitioners in prisons in England and Wales. Of particular interest were the formative experiences of arts practitioners in their journey to prison work. The findings suggest that arts practitioners identify with an 'outsider' status and may be motivated by an ethic of mutual aid. In the current climate of third sector involvement in the delivery of criminal justice interventions, such a capacity may be both a strength and a weakness for arts organisations working in this field.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

From the Outside In: Narratives of Creative Arts Practitioners Working in the Criminal Justice System

Simpson

Morgan

Caulfield

2019

Howard J Crime Justice

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“…; Maguire ; Mills, Meek and Gojkovic ). Others have argued that a large number of organisations working in the penal voluntary sector remain unaffected by the recent pressures of ‘marketisation’ (Tomczak , ), which, broadly defined, refers to the introduction of markets, market forces and market(‐like) principles and practices in the delivery and management of public goods and services (Birch and Siemiatycki ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, our knowledge of the penal voluntary sector is still partial and theoretically underdeveloped (Tomczak ). One explanation for this may be that previous research has been dominated by Anglophone scholars, mainly from the UK and North America (for example, Corcoran , ; Corcoran et al .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One explanation for this may be that previous research has been dominated by Anglophone scholars, mainly from the UK and North America (for example, Corcoran , ; Corcoran et al . ; Kaufman ; Maguire ; Maurutto and Hannah‐Moffat ; Mills, Meek and Gojkovic ; Tomczak , ; Tomczak and Thompson ), who have examined the sector in a particular sociopolitical context, potentially hindering a more thorough examination of the structural factors such as funding arrangements, political context and economic histories that can influence its form and function. This article therefore aims to provide a broader understanding of how different political, economic, and ideological factors in the voluntary and criminal justice sectors can affect the position of VCOs in the penal voluntary sector, by contrasting the accounts of two organisations which work with offenders in Finland and in New Zealand – KRITS and NZPARS – through qualitative thematic documentary analysis of their annual reports.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Exploring Autonomy in the Finnish and New Zealand Penal Voluntary Sectors: The Relevance of Marketisation and Criminal Justice Policy Environments in Two Penal Voluntary Sector Organisations

Helminen

Mills

2019

Howard J Crime Justice

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Our understanding of the structural factors shaping the agency of penal voluntary organisations in different jurisdictions is limited. This article explores how political, economic, and ideological factors in the voluntary and criminal justice sectors have affected two voluntary and community organisations (VCOs) which work with offenders -Finland's KRITS and New Zealand's NZPARS -and their ability to pursue their charitable goals and values. Based on qualitative thematic documentary analysis, our findings indicate that while marketisation and the populist penal policy environment contributed to the downfall of NZPARS, KRITS has been able to pursue its value-based mission of introducing unique elements to the criminal justice system, in spite of also experiencing pressures of marketisation. By contrasting these accounts it is clear that the current structures in New Zealand society have not supported the autonomy of all penal voluntary sector organisations, adding to the challenges of reforming the criminal justice system.

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Mentoring in Practice: Rebuilding Dialogue with Mentees’ Stories

Kloetzer

Wells

Seppänen

et al. 2021

Improving Interagency Collaboration, Innovation and Learning in Criminal Justice Systems

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The voluntary and community sector (VCS) is a key player in the support of prisoners and ex-prisoners in the English and Welsh criminal justice system. Organisational learning and innovation is urgently required in this sector to adapt to the current political and economic environment. The chapter describes exploratory efforts to introduce participatory methods drawn from Change Laboratory Methods and Clinics of Activity within a local VCS organisation that would help (re)build dialogue between stakeholders with the aim of promoting organisational learning and innovation. The intervention comprised an ethnographic phase of observing the staff, interviews with 19 key stakeholders, and a final developmental workshop with the staff. The analysis of these data by the researcher (first author) provided insight into the experience of mentors working in the voluntary sector as well as providing a trigger for dialogue in a subsequent workshop that used these data to establish dialogue between staff. These served as dialogical artefacts, introducing micro-dramas in the form of selected user stories. These dialogical artefacts triggered diverse reactions and analyses by the various participants, highlighting different elements than those anticipated by the researcher. We discuss the different readings of our research data by the researcher and staff members, presenting these two contrasting perspectives, and the implications this has for workplace development methods.

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The Penal Voluntary Sector

Cited by 43 publications

References 0 publications

From the Outside In: Narratives of Creative Arts Practitioners Working in the Criminal Justice System

From the Outside In: Narratives of Creative Arts Practitioners Working in the Criminal Justice System

Exploring Autonomy in the Finnish and New Zealand Penal Voluntary Sectors: The Relevance of Marketisation and Criminal Justice Policy Environments in Two Penal Voluntary Sector Organisations

Mentoring in Practice: Rebuilding Dialogue with Mentees’ Stories

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