Therapeutic communities and planned environments for serious offenders in English prisons

Rawlings, Barbara; Haigh, Rex

doi:10.1192/apt.bp.115.015636

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In the US, the swing from the gender-sensitive, rehabilitative ideal of the 1960s to a more genderneutral, authoritarian penal culture in the 1990s corresponds with a shift from relational closeness to distance (Kruttschnitt and Gartner, 2005). At the same time, the forms of 'therapeutic governance' (Haney, 2010) that are often found in penal regimes for women produce complicated forms of relational intimacy between prisoners and staff (Rawlings and Haigh, 2017;Stevens, 2012). In practice, while such environments are generally welcomed by prisoners due to their ethic of care and interpersonal closeness, they imbue staff-prisoner engagement with considerable power.…”

Section: Staff-prisoner Relationships In Women's Prisonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘It causes a lot of problems’: Relational ambiguities and dynamics between prisoners and staff in a women's prison

Crewe

Schliehe

Przybylska

2022

European Journal of Criminology

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Staff–prisoner relationships have long been recognised as lying ‘at the heart of the whole prison system’ (Home Office, 1984: para. 16; Liebling, 2011). However, relatively few accounts of women's imprisonment have focussed on staff–prisoner relationships specifically, whether describing their terms and dynamics or relating their characteristics to broader ideas of power, trust or legitimacy. In this article, based on semi-ethnographic fieldwork in a women's prison in England, we seek to do something of both, analysing the emotional and relational complexity of staff–prisoner relationships in the context of women's life histories, and the ways that they intersect with flows of penal power and powerlessness. The article illuminates the complexity and emotional intensity of these relationships, first, by outlining their core features, as described by female prisoners – blurred boundaries, infantilisation, pettiness, inconsistency and favouritism – and then by seeking to explain the complex entanglements of power and dependence that result. These explanations include the relative powerlessness and vulnerability of women in prison, their biographical experiences of abuse and trauma, and a tendency for uniformed staff to be somewhat careless in their use of power, while seeking to build close and supportive relationships with prisoners and engaging in forms of benign paternalism. The article concludes that women's prisons represent a challenge to models of penal order, authority and legitimacy precisely because of the relational nature of the flow of power that tends to characterise them.

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Section: Staff-prisoner Relationships In Women's Prisonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘It causes a lot of problems’: Relational ambiguities and dynamics between prisoners and staff in a women's prison

Crewe

Schliehe

Przybylska

2022

European Journal of Criminology

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“…There is now an increasing focus on rehabilitative initiatives in UK prisons, for example, Therapeutic Communities, Enabling Environments and Psychologically Informed Planned Environments (Turley et al, 2013;Rawlings and Haigh, 2017). The prison estate is also increasingly committed to instilling a rehabilitative culture.…”

Section: Epigenetics In Forensic Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Fit in your genes: an introduction to genes and epigenetics for forensic practitioners

Walton

2021

JFP

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Purpose This paper aims to provide a brief and accessible introduction to genetics and epigenetics for forensic practitioners. It provides two primers which define key genetic concepts and explain what epigenetic mechanisms actually are. The primers are provided alongside sections that focus on genetic research relevant to forensic practice, with a range of key messages that support the call to contextualise harmful behaviour and build better awareness of gene-environment relationships. Design/methodology/approach This is an opinion paper. Findings Select and seminal studies from the genetic literature that have forensic practice relevance are cited. These include studies from candidate gene research and epigenetic research. They highlight a number of key themes, including the way neurodevelopment and behaviour are contextually adjusted to fit certain environments, with epigenetic changes being an underpinning biological mechanism that facilitates this. Research limitations/implications This article aims to introduce forensic practitioners to basic concepts in genetics and epigenetics so that they are able to engage with the relevant literature and understand the far-reaching implications for forensic practice. Practical implications It is becoming increasingly useful for forensic practitioners to appreciate how life experiences are encoded into biology through epigenetics. This paper highlights the potential of genetic and epigenetic research to provide major contributions to real-world practice in the coming years. It provides a modern biopsychosocial perspective on harmful behaviour and helps deepen the understanding of our efforts to support behaviour change. It offers ways to think of social and rehabilitative initiatives in biological terms. Originality/value This paper is one of few modern texts that focusses on the relevance of genetic and epigenetic research in applied forensic practice. It aims to introduce relevant concepts in an accessible manor. It intends to introduce biologically informed ways of understanding harmful behaviour within context and with attention to its function. It contributes to a de-pathologising narrative.

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“…Undoubtedly, this provides an important safeguard in establishing and defending professional practices in the therapeutic functioning of the community. But there is a notable lack of external reference points detailing what these are and the rigour with which they are independently monitored and enforced (Brown et al., 2014; Rawlings and Haigh, 2017).…”

Section: On-going Ontological Concernsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long sentenced women prisoners: Rights, risks and rehabilitation

Genders

Player

2020

Punishment & Society

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This paper re-examines critically the role of rehabilitative interventions for a seriously neglected group of prisoners: women serving long sentences. Drawing on empirical research conducted in a democratic therapeutic community in a women’s prison in the south of England, it considers how far established criticisms identify insuperable difficulties that exacerbate existing harms and inequalities. It argues that evidence can be adduced to support rehabilitative interventions that are not predominantly concerned with the reduction of criminal risk but which provide tangible benefits to the personal wellbeing of women in prison and may increase their prospects of integration post release. It explores how such rehabilitative policies and practices could be supported and protected from attrition by penal power, by embedding them within a doctrine of human rights. By challenging and replacing prevalent assumptions and justifications that uphold existing power relations in prisons, we argue that a specific duty of care, owed by the prison service to women serving long sentences, can protect, support and re-imagine their right to rehabilitative opportunities.

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Therapeutic communities and planned environments for serious offenders in English prisons

Cited by 12 publications

References 10 publications

‘It causes a lot of problems’: Relational ambiguities and dynamics between prisoners and staff in a women's prison

‘It causes a lot of problems’: Relational ambiguities and dynamics between prisoners and staff in a women's prison

Fit in your genes: an introduction to genes and epigenetics for forensic practitioners

Long sentenced women prisoners: Rights, risks and rehabilitation

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