Research suggests that whilst not more likely to offend, autistic people are overrepresented within the Criminal Justice System. To date, prevalence estimates are available only for male autistic offenders. Thus, this research aimed to provide the prison-reported rate of autistic female prisoners currently residing in the female prison estate in…

The benefits of government administrative data are well-established, but research has not examined processes by which these data can be identified, organised and governed in line with ethical considerations. This is an important undertaking given the potential benefits of robust administrative data, especially at a time when the collection of…

Purpose: Greener on the Outside for Prisons (GOOP) is a therapeutic horticulture programme targeting the high levels of complex health and social care needs in prisons in England. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns led to unprecedented disruption in prisons in England. This paper examines the experiences of prisoners both during and…

This paper illustrates the approach of co-creating education where co-creation was an important aspect of the curriculum design. It makes a case for prison-university partnerships through two pedagogical case studies -- one within a prison setting with a focus on soft skills acquisition and another in a Higher Education setting focusing on…

Background: Data from sex offender treatment programmes (SOTP) on the re-offending of convicted sex offenders from the prison service in England and Wales was recently reviewed and found to be associated with no change in sexual reoffending. While this result is at variance with a number of other reviews it does give rise to concern as most…

There are over 200, 000 children in the UK who are affected by parental imprisonment [Barnardo's, 2014. Children affected by parental imprisonment. http://www.barnardos.org.uk/what_we_do/our_work/children_of_prisoners.htm]. Children with a parent in prison are expected to engage in a great deal of physical and emotional caring to support their…

Qualitative researchers often face unpredictable ethical issues during fieldwork. These may be regarded as ethical dilemmas that need to be 'solved', but Guillemin and Gillam's concept of 'ethically important moments' provides an alternative framing. Using examples, their concept is developed to suggest that ethical issues in the conduct of…

This study explored the nature of disengagement in young people serving custodial sentences. This was in order to gain new theoretical insights into strategies for their reengagement with education. This is because 90% of young offenders who drop out of school prior to incarceration are reportedly disengaged (dropout being an indicator of…

There is now a growing body of literature which is centred upon the negative outcomes that occur for many families, and by extension, children who experience the imprisonment of a father. Typically, families suffer the consequences of living with stigma and financial difficulties, while children are often affected by the accompanying secrecy and…

Notwithstanding the increasing number of UK and international studies focused on parental involvement in education and parental imprisonment there remains little focus upon the involvement of imprisoned fathers in children's education and the impact of this upon paternal identity. Despite the now accepted perspective that parental imprisonment…

This article reflects on the authors' experiences and those of their students in teaching and learning during a Learning Together course on The Good Life and the Good Society (GLGS) held in an English high security prison involving students serving sentences in the prison and students from the University of Cambridge. This article is based on data…

Twenty years ago, the author co-led an extensive study for the UK Department of Health on the parenting role of imprisoned fathers in England and Wales. Against a background of children's needs and rights, it examined the place of fatherhood in their lives, the meaning of paternal absence to a child, and the particular significance for children of…

Participating in higher-level study offers recognised benefits both for the student and the prison and has been proven to reduce reoffending. However, prisoners are restricted from applying for student loans until they are within six years of release. Allowing prisoners to commence their studies earlier in a long sentence could increase student…

This paper articulates the first 'general theory' of prison education, offering a new insight into the relevance of desistance theory and understanding of prison sociology to the lives of men engaged in education whilst in prison. Using a realist review method (Pawson, 2002b; Wong, 2013a) we develop a rough, initial general theory of prison…

This paper explores the reformulation of the English curriculum for prison education across England and Wales in the second decade of the twenty-first century. As a PhD researcher and Functional English teacher examining the use of drama and creative education in a prison at the time, a prohibition on the use of fictional reading and writing…