The "Rehabilitation Prison": An oxymoron or an opportunity to radically reform imprisonment?
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bath
Department Name: Social and Policy Sciences
Abstract
Prisons are experiencing numerous problems: rising numbers, 'new' populations requiring specialised care (e.g. elderly men, military veterans); an ageing and dilapidated estate that spatially exacerbates effects of overcrowding; a preoccupation with security at the expense of other goals; an influx of new and dangerous drugs and illegal phones; and unprecedented numbers of deaths in custody. In response to these crises, the Government is undertaking an ambitious modernisation programme (the first for 60 years), at the core of which is up to nine new prison builds and the provision of an extra 10,000 prison places. These plans represent a once-in-a-generation opportunity, not only to build modern fit-for-purpose facilities but to reassess what prisons are for and what they can aspire to achieve. In the current era, punishment and rehabilitation are the paradoxical twin drivers of policy, made and implemented within a context of 'effectiveness' and 'efficiency' which, ministers argue, are goals best served by the economies of scale offered by very large prisons. Consequently, despite a wealth of scholarship finding smaller facilities to be better at housing prisoners safely, providing meaningful work, education and training, encouraging purposeful activity, and fostering healthy relationships between prisoners and staff, the Government remains committed to constructing 1000+ bed 'mega-prisons'.
Meanwhile, prisoners are often ill-prepared for release at the end of their sentence, and a return to society can be experienced as a welcome but ultimately catastrophic event. Factors inhibiting successful resettlement include: long-term health problems caused by exposure to overcrowded, brutalising and/or insanitary custodial environments; broken family ties due to remote location of prisons and poor visiting arrangements; unresolved violence and substance misuse issues; limited job prospects due to poor educational attainment and the acquisition of a criminal record; and, for long-term prisoners, lack of experience with the basic, essential technologies that are required to function in modern society. In this context, rehabilitation can seem a forlorn ambition, so the opening of HMP Berwyn in 2017 - described by media as the 'poster child of Britain's super prisons' (BBC, 28 Feb 2017) - is a significant milestone. With capacity for 2,106 inmates, it is (along with Oakwood in England) the second largest prison in Europe, and the largest publicly-run prison in England and Wales. It is also the cheapest to operate, with anticipated costs of just £14,000 per prisoner per year, compared to the national average of £32,500. Yet Berwyn is also the first custodial facility in England and Wales to be designated a 'Rehabilitation Prison' and embed a 'rehabilitative culture' from the outset. If successful in this mission, Berwyn will be a 'flagship' model for the next phase of prisons to be constructed by 2021.
Conducted by a team based at the Universities of Leicester and Kent, and at HMP Berwyn, the study will empirically investigate the extent to which Berwyn can deliver on its promise of rehabilitation, and will employ its findings to inform current and future debates about how prisons might be designed and operated. Following the applicants' existing ESRC-funded research and using the key stakeholder relationships and networks established during those projects, the intent is to innovate in two important ways: i) the research findings will inform knowledge and debates now as well as in future - impact will not come at the end of the study, but will be embedded from the start; ii) it will move beyond traditional 'top-down' research methods, and will fully involve prisoners and staff as co-producers of data. Challenging conventional wisdom and taken-for-granted assumptions, the proposed project is imaginative, significant and timely.
Meanwhile, prisoners are often ill-prepared for release at the end of their sentence, and a return to society can be experienced as a welcome but ultimately catastrophic event. Factors inhibiting successful resettlement include: long-term health problems caused by exposure to overcrowded, brutalising and/or insanitary custodial environments; broken family ties due to remote location of prisons and poor visiting arrangements; unresolved violence and substance misuse issues; limited job prospects due to poor educational attainment and the acquisition of a criminal record; and, for long-term prisoners, lack of experience with the basic, essential technologies that are required to function in modern society. In this context, rehabilitation can seem a forlorn ambition, so the opening of HMP Berwyn in 2017 - described by media as the 'poster child of Britain's super prisons' (BBC, 28 Feb 2017) - is a significant milestone. With capacity for 2,106 inmates, it is (along with Oakwood in England) the second largest prison in Europe, and the largest publicly-run prison in England and Wales. It is also the cheapest to operate, with anticipated costs of just £14,000 per prisoner per year, compared to the national average of £32,500. Yet Berwyn is also the first custodial facility in England and Wales to be designated a 'Rehabilitation Prison' and embed a 'rehabilitative culture' from the outset. If successful in this mission, Berwyn will be a 'flagship' model for the next phase of prisons to be constructed by 2021.
Conducted by a team based at the Universities of Leicester and Kent, and at HMP Berwyn, the study will empirically investigate the extent to which Berwyn can deliver on its promise of rehabilitation, and will employ its findings to inform current and future debates about how prisons might be designed and operated. Following the applicants' existing ESRC-funded research and using the key stakeholder relationships and networks established during those projects, the intent is to innovate in two important ways: i) the research findings will inform knowledge and debates now as well as in future - impact will not come at the end of the study, but will be embedded from the start; ii) it will move beyond traditional 'top-down' research methods, and will fully involve prisoners and staff as co-producers of data. Challenging conventional wisdom and taken-for-granted assumptions, the proposed project is imaginative, significant and timely.
Planned Impact
Who will benefit?
- Berwyn's managers, staff and prisoners (and their families);
- MOJ prison estate transformation team and others responsible for the modernisation agenda;
- Senior leaders tasked with designing, building & operating forthcoming prisons;
- Ministers, correctional personnel etc. who are planning new prisons within a similar timescale (e.g. Scotland, NI, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, USA);
- Her Majesty's Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS);
- Public/Third Sector organizations directly involved in prison operation and governance, e.g. Parole Board, HM Inspectorate, Prisons & Probation Ombudsman, Prison Reform Trust, Inquest, Howard League for Penal Reform;
- Private contractors awarded future DCFM contracts or variations thereof;
- Prison architects/planners;
- Local Authorities; the communities in which Berwyn and other new prisons are located;
- The wider public.
How?
At a macro level, the project will generate data to inform policy and practice in and beyond the UK. With up to nine new prisons currently planned for construction in England & Wales, the study has significant impact potential among high-end stakeholders. In addition, given the global corrections industry interest generated by Berwyn, the study has potential to impact policy and planning in other countries. The research seeks answers to questions e.g: might some ground-breaking initiatives being tried at Berwyn be successfully incorporated into other new prisons in the UK and elsewhere? Could individual prisons, the Prison Service and society at large benefit from designing and building prisons that normalise the custodial experience and adopt as their primary goal the rehabilitation of offenders? Given that financial constraints and economies of scale have resulted in a commitment to build very large prisons (1000+), to what extent is it possible to make 'big feel small'? Addressing such questions in the context of a new, super-sized rehabilitation prison will enable planners, policymakers, architects and other professional practitioners to develop custodial designs based on actual experience of the individuals who live and work in prisons, rather than on assumptions made about end users and their needs.
At a 'meso' level, then, the primary beneficiaries are senior managers, staff and prisoners, who are rarely consulted about 'what works' regarding prison design, environment and culture. The study will inform future development of policy/practice at Berwyn, ultimately improving outcomes for those who live and work there. In seeking to better understand the lived experience and the intended/unintended consequences of the implementation of a rehabilitation culture, recommendations will be made to ensure that senior managers realise their aim of creating a safe, decent, secure and just prison where the men are assisted to progress their rehabilitative journey. If successful in this regard, the study has potential to benefit prisoners' families, the communities in which prisons are located, and society more widely.
At a micro level, in addition to potentially improving the lives and future prospects of all prisoners at Berwyn the study will provide additional benefits to those prisoners recruited to the research team. It is proposed that around 20 men will be trained to conduct interviews and participate in the photography project. It is also hoped that a prisoner can be identified to register for a PhD attached to the project (at no cost; to be funded by UoL). As well as giving the men new skills in research, we anticipate the co-production of data will have a morale-boosting impact and will itself be regarded as an aspect of the rehabilitation culture.
Finally, the project has potential for significant public engagement. Media interest in Berwyn is high and, with social media accounts created by the local community, there is opportunity to disseminate ideas and gain opinions.
- Berwyn's managers, staff and prisoners (and their families);
- MOJ prison estate transformation team and others responsible for the modernisation agenda;
- Senior leaders tasked with designing, building & operating forthcoming prisons;
- Ministers, correctional personnel etc. who are planning new prisons within a similar timescale (e.g. Scotland, NI, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, USA);
- Her Majesty's Prison & Probation Service (HMPPS);
- Public/Third Sector organizations directly involved in prison operation and governance, e.g. Parole Board, HM Inspectorate, Prisons & Probation Ombudsman, Prison Reform Trust, Inquest, Howard League for Penal Reform;
- Private contractors awarded future DCFM contracts or variations thereof;
- Prison architects/planners;
- Local Authorities; the communities in which Berwyn and other new prisons are located;
- The wider public.
How?
At a macro level, the project will generate data to inform policy and practice in and beyond the UK. With up to nine new prisons currently planned for construction in England & Wales, the study has significant impact potential among high-end stakeholders. In addition, given the global corrections industry interest generated by Berwyn, the study has potential to impact policy and planning in other countries. The research seeks answers to questions e.g: might some ground-breaking initiatives being tried at Berwyn be successfully incorporated into other new prisons in the UK and elsewhere? Could individual prisons, the Prison Service and society at large benefit from designing and building prisons that normalise the custodial experience and adopt as their primary goal the rehabilitation of offenders? Given that financial constraints and economies of scale have resulted in a commitment to build very large prisons (1000+), to what extent is it possible to make 'big feel small'? Addressing such questions in the context of a new, super-sized rehabilitation prison will enable planners, policymakers, architects and other professional practitioners to develop custodial designs based on actual experience of the individuals who live and work in prisons, rather than on assumptions made about end users and their needs.
At a 'meso' level, then, the primary beneficiaries are senior managers, staff and prisoners, who are rarely consulted about 'what works' regarding prison design, environment and culture. The study will inform future development of policy/practice at Berwyn, ultimately improving outcomes for those who live and work there. In seeking to better understand the lived experience and the intended/unintended consequences of the implementation of a rehabilitation culture, recommendations will be made to ensure that senior managers realise their aim of creating a safe, decent, secure and just prison where the men are assisted to progress their rehabilitative journey. If successful in this regard, the study has potential to benefit prisoners' families, the communities in which prisons are located, and society more widely.
At a micro level, in addition to potentially improving the lives and future prospects of all prisoners at Berwyn the study will provide additional benefits to those prisoners recruited to the research team. It is proposed that around 20 men will be trained to conduct interviews and participate in the photography project. It is also hoped that a prisoner can be identified to register for a PhD attached to the project (at no cost; to be funded by UoL). As well as giving the men new skills in research, we anticipate the co-production of data will have a morale-boosting impact and will itself be regarded as an aspect of the rehabilitation culture.
Finally, the project has potential for significant public engagement. Media interest in Berwyn is high and, with social media accounts created by the local community, there is opportunity to disseminate ideas and gain opinions.
Organisations
Publications
Kate Gooch
(2020)
The Opportunities, Challenges and Politics of Prison Leadership
in Prison Service Journal
Yvonne Jewkes
(2019)
Sage Research Methods Foundations
Yvonne Jewkes And Alison Young
(2021)
Sensory Penalities: Exploring the Senses in Spaces of Punishment and Social Control
Description | The key findings for this award are : - The creation of a rehabilitative prison requires political commitment, organisational courage, organisational imagination and local leadership. In its absence, rehabilitative practices and ideals are either not realised or not fully developed. - Typically, rehabilitative practices were tied to judgements about what constituted the 'right thing to do' (i.e. it had a moral underpinning) and a recognition of the moral worth and value of individuals (both prisoners and prison staff). Maintaining this values drive approach was harder when prison staff felt unsafe or uncared for. - Relationships between prison managers and prison staff influenced and framed the relationships prison staff created with prisoners. - Prisons do not rehabilitate prisoners, people do. Human connection is critical for hope, future aspiration, finding meaning, and ultimately in rehabilitation. - There is always a risk that claims about rehabilitation in prisons risk feeling 'imaginary' if the prison life feels inhumane, unsafe, insecure or denies opportunities for agency and autonomy in favour of 'risk'. - Rehabilitation is a contested concept for both prison staff and prisoners. The lack of clarity regarding the nature and form of rehabilitation, and with concepts such as 'rehabilitative culture' and 'rehabilitative leadership,' ultimately undermined its potential of rehabilitative practices to reform or improve prisons and prison culture. - Rehabilitation within prison was framed in neo-paternalistic ways. For prison staff, the evidence of rehabilitation was seen in compliance, politeness, and engagement in the regime. However, prisoners largely considered desistance to be a matter of personal choice and were frustrated with the ways that imprisonment infantilised, failed to recognise their potential, failed to offer opportunities for growth or use the skills that they already had. - Sentencing policy, limited access to offender management programmes, difficulties securing release, and difficulties securing a move to open conditions created a sense of 'structural hopelessness' and in some created a 'nothing to lose' mentality. For others, hope was easily undermined or sabotaged by the behaviour and decisions of prison staff (e.g. not recognising improved behaviour, not fulfilling not listening to prisoners). - The dispersal and techniques of penal power varied across the prison estate. In the open prison, prisoners often found themselves 'walking on egg shells,' subject to impossible demands and penalised for asking practical questions that themselves could not answer. Prison staff were distant but 'heavy' in the use of power. In many ways, being in an open prison was less relaxed than in more volatile Category B and Category C prisons. |
Exploitation Route | The research findings will be used in the following ways: - To improve policy and practice at a local level within prisons (e.g. HMP Leyhill, HMP Berwyn) and at a regional level (e.g. within the Avon and South Dorset Prison Group, and the Bedfordshire, Cambridge and Norfolk Prison Group) - To inform the development of new prisons and secure schools (including their design, architecture and operating models) - To develop the concept of rehabilitative leadership with HM Prison and Probation Service and better support prison senior leaders - To inform workforce training and development within HM Prison and Probation Service - To support the development of prison communities in existing and new prisons - To inform the development of prison culture, prison policy and the operational delivery of prison (including how 'hope', 'justice', legitimacy and trust can be more embedded) - To understand prisoners' journeys through the prison estate, their orientations towards desistance and rehabilitation, and what support or hinders that desistance |
Sectors | Government Democracy and Justice Security and Diplomacy |
Description | By Senior Directors, Governing Governors and Senior Managers within HM Prisons and Probation Service regarding the training of their managers and senior managers, in developing safe and secure prisons (so as to support rehabilitation), and in developing their rehabilitative culture strategies. In addition, the findings are being used in the development of new prisons by HM Prisons and Probation Service and the Ministry of Justice. |
First Year Of Impact | 2022 |
Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy |
Impact Types | Policy & public services |
Description | Influence on practice |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | Improved understanding of prison staff regarding prison rehabilitation, prison design, prison communities, prison leadership and specific concepts such as 'hope'. |
Description | Influence operating model and design of new prisons |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Impact | 1. Changes to the size of prison communities 2. Removal of bars from the windows of prison to improve design and the rehabilitative ethos 3. Ensuring that the operating model is best designed to support rehabilitation in a Category B and Category C prison 4. Developing a linguistic culture that reinforces the human dignity and worth of prisons 5. Ensuring that prison designs fully account for the working lives of prison staff (e.g. by including staff facilities) 6. Ensuring that future decisions about value engineering do not undermine the safe and effective delivery of prisons (and learning from HMP Berwyn) 7. Changes to the design of a secure school for children |
Description | Board Member of the HMPPS National Rehabilitative Culture Board |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Board operates to make policy and operational decisions in relation to HMPPS' aspirations to embed rehabilitative cultures within prisons and build rehabilitative prisons. Kate Gooch sits on this Board, which meets quarterly, and at each meeting gives an update on the research. In addition, she is consulted on matters of policy and practice, and is able to offer advice on decision-making, publications, outputs and plans. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Contribution to Working Group (MoJ) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Ongoing contribution to working group developing the new operating model for new prisons |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Contribution to Working Group (MoJ) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Ongoing contribution to working group developing the new operating model for new prisons |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Culture Change |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This presentation focused on aspects of culture change within prison. Not only was there a substantial online audience, but the presentation was made available on the Ministry of Justice/HM Prison and Probation Service intranet. This has led to further invitations to discuss the findings as well as contact to express interest in the research and report applications of the findings within prison. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
Description | HMPPS National Safety Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Kate Gooch presented to a broad audience of senior practitioners, leaders and voluntary sector representatives on prison safety. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Melbourne Prison Architecture Workshop and Presentations |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Yvonne Jewkes presented to Guymer Bailey Architects, Melbourne. Yvonne Jewkes and Kate Gooch both attended workshop with FMSA Architects, Melbourne on new, planned Dame Phyllis Frost Centre women's prison, Victoria. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | New Zealand Department of Corrections |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Invited guests of New Zealand Corrections for week-long visit, including workshops and presentations with Deputy Chief Executive and senior managers and visit to Auckland East maximum-security prison (on which Yvonne Jewkes served on the Design & Build team in 2013-2015) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
Description | One day training event with Prison Senior Management Team |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | One day training event with Prison Senior Management Team |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Perrie Lecture |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Kate Gooch presented a lecture on prison leadership to a wide audience of senior prison leaders, practitioners, members from interested third sector organisations, and academics. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.perrielectures.org.uk |
Description | Presentation on Prison Leadership to HMP Nottingham Staff Team |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Presentation and training activities with HMP Nottingham's managers, senior managers and new prison officers. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Presentation to Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk Prison Group |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Presentation to regional managers, governing governors and regional 'leads' regarding rehabilitative prisons. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Presentation to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons Annual Conference |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This presentation served as an opportunity to discuss the research on prison leadership. This was part of wider knowledge exchange activities with Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons about their assessments of leadership and the introduction of 'leadership expectations' as part of the prison inspection framework. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Presentation to Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation on prison rehabilitation and prison communities to senior prison leaders |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Presentation to Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | This workshop included a presentation on the 'lessons learnt' from the opening of HMP Berwyn, as recorded and critically analysed as part of this study. This workshop involved those who both had the ability and inclination to use the research in the development of a specific new prison. Moreover, this has led to an invitation to become a member of the group responsible for the designing the opening of this new prison. This will facilitate more opportunities for the impact. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Presentation to Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service / HMP Berwyn |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This workshop allowed us to present and discuss a particular aspect of the research: namely the efficacy of building large prisons and the possibility of creating distinct prison communities. At a local level, and following the presentation, the Governor HMP Berwyn made a commitment to make changes to the prison in line with the recommendations. At a national level, the findings will feed into ongoing work to create smaller prison communities and safer regimes. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
Description | Presentation to Prison 'Middle Managers' |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Presentation on 'Leading from the Middle' to Middle Managers as part of the Caring to Lead training programme for managers from the most difficult prisons (as identified by HM Prisons and Probation Service) |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Presentation to Unlocked Graduates on Prison Leadership |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The Unlocked Graduates scheme is a graduate entry training programme for new prison officers. Kate Gooch delivered a training workshop, drawing on the research to enhance the knowledge and understanding of new prison officer regarding prison leadership, culture and rehabilitation. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Rehabilitative Culture Board |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Kate Gooch sits on the national Rehabilitative Culture Board and contributes to discussions on national policy. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Vision Workshop for New Prisons |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A Ministry of Justice Workshop to develop the operating model and vision for a new prison. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Young Offender Institution Senior Management Team Presentation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Kate Gooch presented her work on prison leadership to the senior management team of a young offender institution. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |