News & Events

Gill Buck and colleague Philippa Tomczak from the University of Nottingham have published a new article. It demonstrates:

⚠️Women in prison have key insights into problems and solutions related to imprisonment but their voices are often peripheral, or they are constructed as ‘pathetic’.

💡There is unrealised potential for prison regulators to network women in prison and families with other regulators (e.g., voluntary sector) to deepen understanding of problems for broader social benefit.

🧩Prison regulators across scales hold potential to illuminate harms of imprisonment and influence alternatives, yet criminologists rarely engage with these mechanisms.

The paper analyses prisoners’ participatory roles in the ‘transformative’ Corston Report (2007) and The Corston Report 10 Years On, using actor-network-theory to guide document analysis. They reflect on Corston’s calls for a radically different, woman-centred approach to criminal justice.

Read the article here…  

A new paper co-authored by Gill Buck and Philippa Tomczak, from the University of Nottingham, explores Suicide in prison: The potentials and pitfalls of film-research collaborations.

When somebody dies in prison, grief may not be openly acknowledged. Trauma can be embodied, difficult to express in words.

Collaborative film can centre and validate lived experiences, emotionally engage people, influence understanding, and potentially instigate social change.

BUT, we also need to pay attention to (potential) harms, including the safety of people involved, the potential for emotional pain, and the possibility that nothing might change.

One constructive proposal is wellbeing plans for all collaborators including reflective supervision for researchers.

If harms are considered and collaboratively addressed, co-produced film offers a valuable tool for research dissemination, engaging audiences in new ways and potentially influencing more humane responses to entrenched social problems.

Read the article here…

☎️If you or loved ones are experiencing suicidal thoughts call Samaritans 24/7 on 116 123.

📣In September 2025 our research partners Tasha and Kemi from Reformed Development will launch a new empowerment programme. The Mindset Programme is aimed at women with convictions. It will run for 12 weeks from 3rd September and focus on:

✨️Employability.
✨️Goal Setting.
✨️Increased self-belief and confidence.

To register your interest, visit: https://www.reformed16.com/mindset

In July 2025 the Imagining Possible Futures team shared some initial pilot studies at the annual British Society of Criminology conference. In partnership with Experience for Justice, a collective dedicated to promoting radical change in the criminal justice system through prioritising the perspectives of individuals and groups with lived expertise, we:

✨️Shared a co-created Manifesto for Coproducing Knowledge of Criminal Justice. This manifesto was creatively developed through workshops with FACT Liverpool and a design sprint with Interactive Academia.
✨️Highlighted the urgent need to review the (10 year old) BSC ethics framework in partnership with those most impacted.
✨️Shared hopes for a world beyond vulnerability and deficit lenses: toward one which recognises contributors’ agency and provides real choices about forms of involvement, shared networks and ownership, fair pay and inclusivity.

We also discussed a forthcoming collaborative textbook we are working on with scholars and practitioners from Australia, England, Ireland and Scotland.

✨️Kemi and Lucy shared a video of co-authors James and Dwayne and introduced how we have been working on the (autoethnographic) book to date.
✨️Authors highlighted the strengths and challenges of our collaborative approach with writers who have different backgrounds and approaches, and discussed the value of monthly discussions and investing in the group dynamic, so that deeply personal things can be jointly reviewed with both care and rigour.
✨️Authors facilitated a discussion with the audience, which highlighted the importance of themes such as rehabilitation and recovery movements; long term impacts of living with a criminal record; a lack of agreement on what ‘lived experience is’ and how far the lived experience movement is decolonising knowledge production; ethics and inclusivity.

Watch this space for publication news!

Dr Gill Buck presented her first keynote speech at the Correctional Research Symposium in Belfast, 13-15 May 2025.

Practitioners and researchers joined the International Corrections and Prisons Association (ICPA) and the European Organisation for Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris) for the symposium, hosted by the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) in Belfast.

 The event explored how quality research can help direct the design and delivery of criminal justice services. 

Gill’s talk introduced a history of lived experience led criminal justice stretching as far back as the 18th century, before summarising empirical evidence of peer mentoring from across the world and focusing in on a community case study in a UK criminal justice context.

🎥You can watch the talk here.

📖You can access Gill’s open access publications on peer-mentoring here, including her paper on The Core Conditions of peer-mentoring.

📚 More open access resources on Lived Experience Criminal Justice research are available here.

‘Prisoner Leaders: Leadership as Experience and Institution’ is a new innovative book from editors Paula Harriott and Marion Vannier that explores opportunities for the systematic development of prison leadership.

Co-editor, Paula Harriott explains, “Prison leadership is an unmined sea of knowledge, strengthening people as they pass through the justice process.”

The launch event held on the 16 June, brought together practical proposals from a range of authors on facilitating leadership not stereotypes, reducing violence, promoting recovery, and developing meaningful work opportunities. The book is a new step in elevating transformative actions and exploring how fundamental changes to criminal justice can better society as a whole.

Research team members Kemi and Tasha Ryan talk about Life After Prison in a new podcast. If you’ve not yet heard from the force that is Reformed Development, treat yourself to a listen. Sharing essential messages for social work and criminal justice on love, a human approach and recognising the minefield that is post-prison ‘rehabilitation’.

“We had to create our rehabilitation, and that’s a sad thing”.
Tasha Ryan, Reformed Development

In the episode, host Jules speaks to the sisters, whose organisation was born out of the rejection and discrimination they experienced after coming out of prison. To inspire changes, they work to support other people who have been to prison, and to empower communities with a holistic approach to rehabilitation. Listen to the podcast here…

Trigger warning: podcast references sensitive topics.