Prisons Research Group
The Prisons Research Group (PRG) brings staff and students together to critically examine prison issues and debates in the context of ambitions for reform, transformative rehabilitation and supported reintegration on release.
About us
The Prisons Research Group brings staff and students together to critically examine prison issues and intersecting justice system topics across policing and security, the criminal courts and sentencing, community-based penalties, probation and rehabilitation. Our research is underpinned by principles of social justice, fairness and inclusivity with considerations of how these relate to criminal justice processes, policy and practice.
The PRG is made up of staff conducting rigorous independent research that is empirically driven and grounded in theoretical thought. Research is conducted as funded and unfunded inquiry and as exploratory and evidence-based studies. The PRG's research ideas and design are interdisciplinary, and strengthened by the faculty subjects of criminology, sociology, law, psychology, social policy and social work and mental health practice at Middlesex University. We foster links with academics at other universities and colleagues working in the criminal justice and legal professions.
Staff have research experience in: prison drugs policy; young adults (18-25) in the criminal justice system, the criminal courts, sentencing other court decisions, the changing nature of probation practice and public protection; drugs market organisation; self-inflicted deaths in custody, drugs problem-solving courts, prison education and theories of alternatives to prison.
Projects
- Prof Dhami is co-I on the JuDDGES project - Judicial Decision Data Gathering, Encoding and Sharing funded by EPSRC/CHIST-ERA (2024-2026). This project will develop an AI-based solution (tool) that can be used by researchers to examine unstructured textual data in court records and/or written legal judgments.
- Jenni Ward co-led (with Jake Phillips -Sheffield Hallam University) alongside academics from Middlesex (Karen Duke) and SHU a process evaluation of the Newham ‘young adult’ (18-25-year olds) probation Hub funded by Ministry of Justice (2022- 2024). Final report published 2024. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66d830f5dbffedc7eb44d1c0/y2a-hub-process-evaluation.pdf The evaluation results are contributing to national level probation policy-making and practice on young adults.
- Prof Goodman is leading The Mandeville Street and Surrounding Streets Project (MaSS) Violence Reduction Project funded by the Community Gangs Team (CGT) London Borough of Hackney (2024).
- Prof. Duke is leading a study ‘Drug-related Deaths in Prisons in England and Wales’ examining the factors that contribute them and the policy and practice responses (June 2021-ongoing).
- Prof. Goodman & David Porteous (2021) completed two evaluations in collaboration with Southwark Youth Justice Service funded by the Youth Justice Board. The first evaluated the prevention of weapon carrying by children in Southwark. The second evaluated the ‘Youth Ink, Peer Support Navigator Network Scheme’- a programme where children who have offended work as peer supporters and mentors to children involved with the Youth Justice Team. See Goodman, A. and Porteous, D. (2023) Final report on Youth Ink (peer navigator project with former young offenders as supporters) https://yjresourcehub.uk/wp-content/uploads/media/Youth_Ink_Interim_Evaluation_Child_First_Pathfinder_2022.pdf and Porteous, D. and Goodman, A. (2023), "“If I had had a me”: the benefits and challenges of involving children with lived experience in youth justice services", Safer Communities, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 172-185. https://doi.org/10.1108/SC-10-2022-0043
- Jenni Ward co-led (with Matt Cracknell) a study commissioned by ‘Prisoners Abroad’ through Comic Relief funding on the resettlement experiences of people imprisoned overseas and supported by ‘Prisoners Abroad’ on return (2021-22). The research published as study report https://www.prisonersabroad.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=1d6e80b9-b891-46c5-9b7f-e56e2609a467 was disseminated at a webinar in July 2022 attended by guests from across the criminal justice and charity sectors. See article in ‘Probation Quarterly’ https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/8q4zy
- Jenni Ward was PI (with Natalie Gray) on an ‘Evaluation of the Middlesex ‘Learning Together’ module in HM Wandsworth Prison’ in 2016 funded by the Centre for Academic Practice Enhancement (CAPE) Middlesex University. See final report (add file attached to the email please) and article in Journal of Prison Education and Reentry. https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/87q88
Staff Profiles and Affiliate Members
Members of the Prisons Research Group include academics from a range of disciplines at Middlesex University, including members from the Criminology, Sociology and Law departments. Please click on individual links to see further staff information, including publications and research interests.
Dr Jenni Ward
Associate Professor in Criminology
Professor Philip Leach
Professor of Human Rights Law
Dr Karen Duke
Professor in Criminology
Professor Anthony Goodman
Professor in Criminology
Dr Lisa Marzano
Professor in Psychology
Professor Mandeep Dhami
Professor in Decision Psychology
Dr. Jeffrey DeMarco
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
Mr. James Kenworth
Senior Lecturer in Media Narrative
Postgraduate Research
PRG staff invite PhD and DProf. applications in the areas of:
- Criminal sentencing and/or other court decisions
- Young adults (18-25-year olds) in the criminal justice system
- Adult and youth justice and probation practice
- Drug-related harm in the criminal justice system, prison and probation policy
- Suicide and self-harm in prison or upon release, with a focus on prisoners and/or staff
- Prison education
- Specialist courts and problem-solving justice
- Specialised mental health, critical forensic and applied social psychology
- International human rights law and practice
- Comparative criminal justice, courts and prisons
See individual staff profiles for areas of doctoral research supervision and contact staff through email addresses.
Current Doctoral Students:
Suzanne Morch-Lassen Is conscious connected breathwork a viable intervention for young adults aged 18-25 in the criminal justice system to promote well-being and aid rehabilitation?
Priya Bagolin: Reforming Provisional Charges under the Criminal Justice System of Mauritius: A Comparative Analysis the UK's PACE
Vicki Cardwell: Combining Policy, Practice and Research on Young Adults aged 18-25 in the Criminal Justice System to Effect Social Change.
Awarded doctoral degrees:
Dr. Mallika Saraswat: Abolitionist Restorative Justice in the UK: Theory and Practice.
Dr. Matt Cracknell: Practitioner and Service User Experiences of Short-term Imprisonment and Resettlement under the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014.
Dr. Eric Beckford: An Exploration into What Works in Effectively Engaging Young Adult Offenders in Probation Supervision: Practitioners and Probationers Perspectives.
Dr. Ildiko Cseri: Is Your Accent Guilty: Is your accent guilty? The Experiences of Foreign Born Domestic Violence Victims within the English Criminal Justice System.
Dr. Di Li: Integrating Restorative Justice into the ICC’s Legal Framework Possibility and Necessity.
Dr. Susan Hillyard: Are Circles of Support and Accountability (CoSA) an Effective Risk Management Tool for Young People with Learning Disabilities? Sponsorship though RESPOND UK national charity.
Knowledge Exchange and Teaching
The PRG is associated with the Middlesex MSc Criminology with Forensic Psychology taught Masters. Current and former students are invited to attend and present their research at PRG seminars.
The PRG was part of the ‘Learning Together’ Network bringing students from universities and prison together to learn alongside each other in styles of co-creation, knowledge exchange and debate. A Middlesex partnership with HMP Wandsworth involved a 10 week criminology module delivered in collaboration with the prison education team (View the evaluation report - Transformative Learning through University).
Collaborations (Our partners)
‘Prisoners Abroad’ the charity supporting UK citizens imprisoned abroad and in resettlement following return is a partner of the PRG and have commissioned PRG research and disseminated findings.
The PRG was part of the ‘Learning Together’ network that brought university and prison students together in styles of co-created learning, knowledge exchange and debate. A partnership with HMP Wandsworth involved three cohorts studying the ‘Critical Issues in Criminal Justice’ module on the MSc Criminology with Forensic Psychology programme.
Events / Media
PRG seminars and events are held throughout the year and media coverage of research topics and activity.
Media
Podcasts
Karen Duke, Drug Science Podcast on drugs and prisons with Professor David Nutt and Professor Susanne MacGregor, June 2024 https://youtu.be/e89nPhmBd10?si=Vi1964fJguPzXkho
‘New ‘young adult first’ probation hub should be implemented across UK’ -Middlesex press release accompanying Ministry of Justice publication of Newham young adult probation Hub final evaluation report September 2024 https://www.mdx.ac.uk/news/2024/9/probation-hub-report
‘Prisons are nearly at full capacity but what can be done?’ Interview by ITV news online with Jenni Ward 7 July 2024 https://www.itv.com/news/2024-07-10/uk-prisons-are-nearly-at-full-capacity-but-what-can-be-done
‘MDX playwright screens prison reform film to inmates on International Women’s Day’- Middlesex press release of James Kenworth’s play ‘Angel of the Prisons’ is based on the life and work of Elizabeth Fry 7 March 2023 https://www.mdx.ac.uk/news/2023/3/playwright-screens-prison-reform-film-to-inmates/
Events
Prisoners Abroad & PRG online webinar (July 2022) ‘The Resettlement Experiences of People Supported by the Charity Prisoners Abroad’ launch of research report by Matt Cracknell & Jenni Ward with discussant Nick Hardwick Trustee of Prisoners Abroad. 2) in collaboration with Prisoners Abroad’. https://www.prisonersabroad.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=1d6e80b9-b891-46c5-9b7f-e56e2609a467
PGR online webinar (July 2021) ‘Prisoners Abroad and the Pandemic’ by Charlotte Flinterman (resettlement manager) & Emma Rowland (senior case worker from the prison and family support team) at ‘Prisoners Abroad’.
The PRG holds roundtable seminars
Criminal Court Sentencing: Thinking about Reform’ 2020
The roundtable included topics on sentencing law and enduring severity, changes to probation and short sentenced prisoners under the ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’ framework, Joint Enterprise prosecutions and the benefits of ‘problem-solving’ approaches in youth justice. Former prisons minister Rory Stewart gave the keynote speech.
Blogpost from the roundtable ‘Crime, Prisons and Social Injustice’ by Dr. Anna Kotova https://annakotova5.wixsite.com/prisons
Speakers
- Rory Stewart - Previous Prisons Minister & then London Mayoral Candidate
- Nick Hardwick - Professor of Criminal Justice, Royal Holloway University
- Nicola Padfield - Professor in Criminal & Penal Justice, University of Cambridge
- Quentin Goodman - Northamptonshire Youth Offending Team
- Matt Cracknell - Middlesex Criminology Lecturer, Middlesex University
- Junior Smart (OBE) Founder SOS Project, St. Giles Trust
Changing Prisons in Challenging Times: Revisited’ 2017
Speakers discussed the prisons reform strategy in the 2016 Prison Safety and Reform White Paper, the Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry into mental health and deaths in custody, problems with risk assessment and Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences, the ‘Learning Together’ prisons/university education partnerships and closure of Holloway woman’s prison.
Speakers
- Erwin James - author, Guardian Journalist &'Inside Times' editor
- Nick Hardwick - then Chair of Parole Board
- Phillip Leach - Specialist Adviser to inquiry on mental health & deaths in prison with Natalie Gray, Middlesex researcher
- Amy Ludlow & Ruth Armstrong- Institute of Criminology, Cambridge University
- Nick Pascoe - Executive Governor HMPs Coldingley & High Down
- Rachel Seoighe - Middlesex Criminology Lecturer
Changing Prisons in Challenging Times 2015
This seminar discussed challenges within the prison system, impacts on prison officers, the role of rehabilitation in prison, findings from the independent panel on deaths in custody, human rights of people in prison and the needs of alcohol dependent people entering prison custody.
Speakers
- Nick Hardwick - then HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
- Erwin James - Guardian Journalist author of A Life Inside: A Prisoner’s Notebook and The Home Stretch: From Prison to Parole
- Pamela Taylor - Chair in Psychiatry, Cardiff University
- Anastasia Karamalidou - Middlesex Criminology Lecturer
- Toby Harris - Chair of Independent Advisory Panel on Deaths in Custody
- Kimmett Edgar - Head of Research Prison Reform Trust.
Get in touch
The best way to contact the PRG is through the convenor Dr. Jenni Ward - [email protected]
Social media
The Twitter/X handle of the PRG is @mdx_prg