The Locked up Living Podcast

Desistance or Desistence? Shadd Maruna explains the term and implications for progression in criminal policy planning.

In this informal and wide ranging conversation Shadd explains what is meant by desistance and how this is distinguished from the term rehabilitation. With great warmth he thinks about the importance of listening, whether as a mentor or mentee and givies his assessment of the structure of forensic psychology
Shadd Maruna is Professor of Criminology at Queen’s University Belfast and a member of the Correctional Services Accreditation and Advice Panel.  He has previously held the post of Dean of Rutger’s School of Criminal Justice in the USA and worked at Cambridge and Manchester Universities.   
His research focuses on desistance and the implications for reintegration into society after imprisonment.  In 2001, his book, “Making Good: How ex-convicts reform and rebuild their lives” was named as outstanding contribution to Criminology in 2001.   
He has since authored or edited 6 other books and has won the Hans Mattick Award for distinguished contribution to criminology in 2014 and the inaugural research medal from the Howard League for Penal Reform in 2012 for his research’s impact on real world practice.   
He has been a SOROS Justice fellow, a Fulbright Scholar and a Guggenheim Fellow.  He has also been involved in several Learning Together partnerships between prisons and universities and is an advisor to several organisations that advocate for rights for people who’ve previously been imprisoned.
Shadd was a long term friend and colleague of Hans Toch, Austrian American social psychologist and criminologist.  Shadd said Hans 'was my mentor for my whole professional career. And my role model as a scholar. He lived a great life.  To 91. He called em like he saw em and he wasn’t afraid.'
As Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany, New York Professor Toch had an enormous influence on numerous people in the criminal justice field over many years. We are just receiving news of his recent death and will post when we know more.
 

What happened to the Henderson Hospital, carelessness or deliberate destruction (Part One)

The Henderson Hospital was one of the outstanding treatment facilities for traumatised people in the period after the second world war. It was hugely influential for psychiatric practice and the devlopment of therapeutic communities in prisons and one of the most researched institutions in the world. Yet it closed through a lack of funding at a time when fresh money for the treatment of personality disorders was coming on stream. Why and who was responsible? Fiona Warren who participated in the research which illustrated the cost effectiveness of the Henderson and Chris Scanlon who worked there towards the end in 2008, discuss these matters.
From a distance the loss of the Henderson seems mystifying and nobody seems keen to take responsibility. We shall revisit this debate and if you think you would like to contribute to this debate or know someone who could do let us know.
Fiona Warren is a Research consultant, writer, trainer and coach. She worked for ten years as a researcher with  the South West London & St George's Mental Health NHS Trust based at St Georges Hospital and the Henderson Hospital.  In 2005 Fiona took up a post as lecturer in psychology and eventually research director at the University of Surrey
Dr Christopher Scanlon is a Consultant Psychotherapist in general adult and forensic mental health in the NHS, he is also a Training Group Analyst at the Institute of Group Analysis. He has also worked at the Henderson Hospital the pioneering NHS facility for people with severe personality disorders.

Dominique Moran, Professor of Carceral Geography, an expert on the things that really matter.

Today’s guest is Professor Dominique Moran who is professor of carceral geography Birmingham University so her expertise is in providing a geographical perspective on incarceration.   
Dominique is also Chair of the  Carceral geography Working Group of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographies. 
She is author of “Carceral Geography: Spaces and Practices of Incarceration and editor of a number of texts on spatial geography and its relation to imprisonment.  She is also widely published in a number of leading geographical journals.

Sophie Ellis delves into the history of prison psychology. Is there conflict between being a servant of the state and a therapeutic agent?

 Sophie Ellis is a researcher at the Prisons Research Centre, at Cambridge University. She’s interested in the experience of imprisonment for those who live and work in prisons, and in the effects of prison on families. She’s also interested in the intersection between the ‘psy’ disciplines, and state institutions. Before arriving at Cambridge, she spent nine years working in prison-based psychology roles, doing assessments and group-based cognitive-behavioural programmes with prisoners.
During her time in the Prison Service, Sophie conducted research on the psychosocial characteristics of men who behaved violently in custody, and desisted over the course of their sentence. She was interested in how people managed to desist in an environment that typically has elevated levels of violence.
Sophie’s PhD is looking at the role of psychologists in English prisons. It explores their history, their culture, their professional identity, and how they make decisions about deploying their power and expertise in a socially and morally complex environment like prison.

Clinical or forensic psychologist or something else entirely. Marc Kozlowski shares his thoughts on progression from practitioner to teacher.

Marc orininally thought of becoming a clinical psychologist before taking a twenty year break as a software developer. When he returned to psychology he took a different path. 
Marc has been a practitioner forensic psychologist since 2003, becoming chartered with the British Psychological Society in 2006. He was Head of Psychology at four UK prisons, two in England and two in Scotland. In addition to conducting and reporting on risk assessments on serious offenders, Marc was involved in the delivery and management of accredited offending behaviour interventions that addressed intimate partner violence, general violence, sexual offending, substance-related offending, and anger-related violence. One aspect of his role that Marc particularly valued, was supervising Forensic Psychologists in Training as they worked towards chartership. He is delighted to be able to continue this nurturing and guidance role in his work with the students at Edinburgh Napier University.
 
Marc’s specialisms within forensic psychology are personality disordered offenders, intimate partner violence, hostage negotiation, and trauma-informed working.
 
Since joining Edinburgh Napier University, Marc has led on the development of a new Applied Forensic Psychology Master’s programme, which was accredited by the BPS in March 2021. Marc has designed the programme to enable students to develop some of the skills and insights that they will need in the workplace, so that they become immediately helpful to employers once they have graduated.
 
Marc continues, in a private capacity, to conduct risk assessments for both criminal justice and family courts. In this way his skills and experience remain current, something that he hopes will benefit the generation of psychology students currently studying at Edinburgh Napier University.

Charlotte Knight, Emotional Literacy and the reconstruction of the emotional world in the criminal justice system

Somehow emotions and thinking became disconnected from many of our key services. We are fortunate that a number of skilled and experienced practitioners have taken time to reflect on the place of feelings and emotions in everyday life and the way they can affect our judgements.
Our latest guest, Charlotte Knight, began her career in the probation service in 1973 and has extensive experience as a probation officer in a range of settings including both prison and the community.
In the second half of her career, Charlotte has been much more involved in working academically to develop probation officers.  Her academic work involved setting up a diploma in probation studies and enabling the creation of a degree in criminology at De Montfort Uni.  She completed a PhD in criminology in 2012 on the subject of emotional literacy in criminal justice and the book that emerged from this is a refreshing read for anyone who’s involved with the CJS. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Emotional-Literacy-Criminal-Justice-Professional/dp/1137273208)
Although Charlotte retired from full-time teaching in 2011, she’s continued to work on a number of European Probation projects and also wrote a second book on LGBT people and the CJS.  (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lesbian-Bisexual-People-Criminal-Justice/dp/1137496975/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Lesbian%2C+Gay%2C+Bisexual+and+Trans+People+%28LGBT%29+and+the+Criminal+Justice+System&qid=1621372526&s=books&sr=1-1)

Robert Canton: Anger, fear, shame and disgust. Does remorse matter? Why do we struggle to talk about feelings in the ’Justice’ world?

Rob Canton is Professor in Community and Criminal Justice at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. Before joining De Montfort, he worked in the Probation Service for some 20 years in a number of different roles. Rob has contributed to probation development and general penal reform in more than ten different countries, mostly in Europe. He was co-opted to the Council of Europe to develop the European Probation Rules (2007 - 10) and again in 2015 - 2016 to revise the European Rules on Community Sanctions and Measures. He also acted as a Specialist Adviser to the House of
Commons Justice Select Committee in its Inquiry into the Role of the Probation Service (2010 - 11).
Rob has written a number of articles and book chapters, many about probation, although also about international work and policy transfer. His book, Probation: Working with Offenders , was published by Routledge in 2011, and a second edition, Probation , written with Jane Dominey, came out at the end of 2017. More recently, he has been trying to understand punishment more widely and Why Punish? An Introduction to the Philosophy of Punishment was published by Palgrave Macmillan in June 2017.

Eating Behind Bars: Ending the Hidden Punishment of Food in Prison. Leslie Soble and Roy Waterman

We are very excited by this episode and had a great time meeting our two guests from the USA. Food is central to our existence, health and wellbeing. All of us.
Leslie Soble is a research fellow for the Food in Prison Project and the lead author of Impact Justice’s recent report, Eating Behind Bars: Ending the Hidden Punishment of Food in Prison. An ethnographer and folklorist, Leslie holds an MA in cultural sustainability with a focus on the intersection of foodways, narrative theory, and social practice art. 
Roy Waterman is a chef, mentor, activist and agent of change, one who is committed to assisting in the growth and the development of the lives of all people, especially those formerly incarcerated.
Leslie and Roy engage in a stimulating and hard hitting conversation about the meaning of food in prison, how it is managed and used as a tool to further punish and humiliate incarcerated people. This was the starting point in a discussion which touched upon the use of language and the matter of power and politics in the administration of justice. For more on how to avoid the use of negative language follow this link. https://cmjcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CNUS-AppropriateLanguage.pdf

Sarah Peyton, author of Your Resonant Self and Your Resonant Self Workbook, talks about her work with women in US prisons

"In this episode David and Naomi talk with Sarah Peyton a neuroscience educator, constellation facilitator, Nonviolent Communication Trainer and author of Your Resonant Self and Your Resonant Self Workbook about her work with women in a prison in the USA.  Sarah invites audiences into a compassionate understanding of the effects of relational trauma on the brain and teaches about how to use resonance to change and heal.  She discusses how introducing people to the neuroscience of trauma can help them gain mastery over their past.  
 
Check out her website www.sarahpeyton.com to find stacks of resources including meditations that are tailored for those who might struggle to participate in this ordinarily".  
 

Roland Woodward, creator of therapeutic environments

Roland Woodward is a chartered forensic psychologist and has more than forty years’ experience of working in the criminal justice system, most of it within the prison service. Roland worked at HMP Grendon and has also managed the psychological services at HMP Gartree where he opened the first therapeutic community for life sentence prisoners. Following that he was the first Director of Therapy at the Dovegate prison therapeutic community which has 200 residents in five different communities. In this conversation he describes his beginning at the young offender's prison Glen Parva and how he learned about therapeutic communities from Judy Mackenzie before moving to HMP Grendon to be 'deconstructed'. This is an amusing and vivid account of his time from being a 'junior' psychologist to creating a major treatment facility at HMP Dovegate and the way that his philosophy developed and influenced his policy decisions