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This book analyses the experiences of prisoners in England & Wales sentenced when relatively young to very long life sentences (with minimum terms of fifteen years or more). Based on a major study, including almost 150 interviews with men and women at various sentence stages and over 300 surveys, it explores the ways in which long-term prisoners respond to their convictions, adapt to the various challenges that they encounter and re-construct their lives within and beyond the prison. Focussing on such matters as personal identity, relationships with family and friends, and the management of time, the book argues that long-term imprisonment entails a profound confrontation with the self. It provides detailed insight into how such prisoners deal with the everyday burdens of their situation, feelings of injustice, anger and shame, and the need to find some sense of hope, control and meaning in their lives. In doing so, it exposes the nature and consequences of the life-changing termsof imprisonment that have become increasingly common in recent years.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- 2. Methods.- 3. Pen Portraits.- 4. The Early Years.- 5. Coping And Adaptation.- 6.Social Relations.- 7. Identity and the Self.- 8. Time and Place.- 9. Discussion.
About the author
Ben Crewe is Deputy Director of the Prisons Research Centre at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, UK. He is interested in all aspects of prison life, including prison management, staff-prisoner relationships, public and private sector imprisonment, penal power and prisoner social life.
Susie Hulley is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, UK. She is interested in how young people are affected by the criminal justice system, particularly their experiences of criminalisation and imprisonment. Her recent work focuses on the application of 'joint enterprise' by criminal justice practitioners (including lawyers and the police) and the impact of this legal doctrine on young people.
Serena Wright is a researcher and Lecturer in Criminology in the Department of Law and Criminology at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. Her research on prisons and penology has focusedon short-term sentences and post-release 'frustrated desistance' among women, and the experience of long-term incarceration among life-sentenced prisoners.. She is particularly interested in the intersection between trauma, addiction, and criminalisation, and between health, gender and criminal justice.
Report
"The book offers a valuable and important contribution to sociological literature on long-term and life imprisonment. ... The book presents honest and authentic accounts to reconsider the challenging implications of the topics explored. It contributes to social, criminological and geographical studies of incarceration and life course literature and will be of great interest to readers across these fields." (Jayne Price, The British Journal of Criminology, April 21, 2020)
