Those who have commited sexual offences may be vilified, abused or physically beaten. Often they are regarded as untreatable as well. Anna Kotova and Geraldine Akerman take a different approach. Following their research with residents and staff they argue that a therapeutic community can provide a safe and effective environment. In this podcast they explain their findings. See free access to their paper via the link below.

Navigating moral dimensions and lateral power – The experiences of men with sexual convictions and histories of sexual abuse serving sentences in a therapeutic community

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/26326663221074263

Anna Kotova in a Lecturer in Criminology at Birmingham University. Her teaching and research interests are in prison sociology and the collateral impact of imprisonment on families of prisoners. She has researched the impact of long sentences on partners of prisoners in the UK, the experiences of prisoners serving sentences for sex offences in a therapeutic community and the use of video-call technology in prisons. She teaches Criminological Theory I and Punishment in a Global Context.

 

Geraldine Akerman is a Forensic Psychologist who has worked HMP Grendon for many years and now works for the NHS.