Clare Barstow spent 25 years in prison, having been convicted of murder nearly 30 years ago. Since her release has volunteered for prison charities, given many talks in prisons and in the community, and helps to shape services for the better through sharing her experiences.

Sarah Skett is a Registered Forensic Psychologist and an Associate Fellow fo the British Psychological Society. She has worked with people who have committed crimes for nearly 30 years and is Head of the Joint Offender Personality Disorder pathway for both the NHS and HM Prison and Probation Service.

Jake Shaw is an Associate Director and Consultant Forensic Psychologist with Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. He specialises in working in the field of personality disorder.

Further reading:

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Dr Rachael Wheatley is Senior Forensic Psychologist for HM Prisons and Probation Service in the Midlands region. She specialises in identifying and working with those who stalk and those who manage them. She is currently setting up a virtual reference group nationally with links to partner organisations across the community.

Support for people affected by stalking is available from the following sources:

• Suzy Lamplugh Trust. Offers support for victims and research and training for employers. www.suzylamplugh.org
• Alice Ruggles Trust. Provides information about support in different UK regions. www.alicerugglestrust.org
• Stalking Risk Profile website. www.stalkingriskprofile.com

Recommended reading:

• Mullen (2008). Stalkers and their Victims. Cambridge university press.

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Flora Fitzalan Howard is a Registered Forensic Psychologist working as a researcher and evidence-based practice specialist within Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service’s Evidence-Based Practice team.  She worked in prisons as a practitioner psychologist before specialising in research and evidence-based practice.  Her research interests have focussed on procedural justice, prison culture, self-harming behaviour in prison, and developing the rehabilitative potential of prison processes (such as recall to prison, electronic monitoring, and disciplinary adjudications).

Dr Helen Wakeling is a Chartered Research Psychologist, working as a researcher and evidence-based practice specialist within the Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service’s Evidence-Based Practice Team. She has worked as a researcher within HMPPS for over 18 years, specialising originally in research into sexual offending, and the use of psychometrics with men convicted of sexual offences undertaking an intervention. More recently her research interests include procedural justice, prison culture, drug taking in prisons and psychosocial maturity.

Recommended reading:

• MacQueen & Bradford (2017). Where did it all go wrong? Implementation failure—and more—in a field experiment of procedural justice policing.  Journal of Experimental Criminology, 13, 321-345

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Jo Shingler is a Chartered Forensic Psychologist who specialises in psychological risk assessment with people in prison. 

Her recommended reading:

Gannon, T. A., & Ward, T. (2014). Where has all the psychology gone? Aggression and Violent Behavior, 19(4), 435-446. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2014.06.006

Maruna, S. (2011). Why do they hate us? International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 55(5), 671-675. doi:10.1177/0306624X11414401

Here are some excellent publications by Jo relating to risk assessment:

Shingler, J., & Needs, A. (2018). The role of psychological risk assessment in parole board decision-making: An exploration of the perspectives of psychologists, indeterminate sentenced prisoners and parole board members. Prison Service Journal, (237), 36.

Shingler, J., Sonnenberg, S. J., & Needs, A. (2018). Risk assessment interviews: Exploring the perspectives of psychologists and indeterminate sentenced prisoners in the united kingdom. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 62(10), 3201-3224. doi:10.1177/0306624X17739211

Shingler, J., Sonnenberg, S. J., & Needs, A. (2020a). Psychologists as 'the quiet ones with the power': Understanding indeterminate sentenced prisoners' experiences of psychological risk assessment in the united kingdom. Psychology, Crime & Law, 26(6), 571-592. doi:10.1080/1068316X.2019.1708354

Shingler, J., Sonnenberg, S. J., & Needs, A. (2020b). 'Their life in your hands': The experiences of prison-based psychologists conducting risk assessments with indeterminate sentenced prisoners in the united kingdom. Psychology, Crime & Law, 26(4), 311-326. doi:10.1080/1068316X.2019.1652750

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Laura Baverstock is the National Specialist Lead for HM Prison and Probation Service's Horizon programme, which is an intervention delivered to men who have a sexual conviction as part of an antisocial criminal orientation, and are considered to be at a medium, high or very high risk of re-conviction.

Dr. Jamie Walton delivers interventions for people with sexual convictions in prisons in the Midlands. He is the Cluster Psychology Lead for HM Prison and Probation Service's Midlands Psychology Services.

Their recommended reading:

• Blagden N, Winder B, Hames C. "They Treat Us Like Human Beings"--Experiencing a Therapeutic Sex Offenders Prison: Impact on Prisoners and Staff and Implications for Treatment. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol. 2016 Mar;60(4):371-96. doi: 10.1177/0306624X14553227. Epub 2014 Oct 9. PMID: 25305193.
• Saplosky, R (2004) Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers. Henry Holt and Company.
• Gilbert, P. (2010) The Compassionate Mind. Constable.
• Gilbert, P. (2017) Living Like Crazy, Annwyn House
• Walton, J (2019). The Evolutionary Basis of Belonging: Its Relevance to Denial of Offending and Labeling those who Offend. Journal of Forensic Practice. DOI: 10.1108/JFP-04-2019-0014
• Walton, J. S., Ramsay, L., Cunningham, C. & Henfrey, S. (2017). New directions: integrating a biopsychosocial approach in the design and delivery of programs for high risk services users in Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service. Advancing Corrections: Journal of the International Corrections and Prison Association, 3, 21-47

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Dr. Jamie Bennett is Deputy Director for the Operational Security Group in HM Prison and Probation Service. He was previously Governor of HMP Long Lartin, a high security prison, and HMP Grendon, the only prison to operate entirely as a series of therapeutic communities. He is also Editor of the Prison Service Journal. @drjamiebennett

Richard Shuker is Head of Psychology and research at HMP Grendon. He is series editor for the book series Issues in Forensic Psychology, and specialises in therapeutic communities and risk assessment.

Their recommended reading:

• Bennett, J. and Shuker, R. (2018), "Hope, harmony and humanity: creating a positive social climate in a democratic therapeutic community prison and the implications for penal practice", Journal of Criminal Psychology, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 44-57. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCP-06-2017-0030
• Crewe, B (2021) The Prisoner Society: Power, Adaptation and Social Life in an English Prison. Oxford University Press
• Haslam, Jetten, Cruwys, Dingle, & Haslam (2018). The New Psychology of Health
• Unlocking the Social Cure. Routledge.

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Dr. Jo Bailey is Head of the Psychology Services Group in HM Prison and Probation Service. With nearly 30 years experience in the prison service, she's our perfect guide to the role of forensic psychology in our criminal justice system.

Chloe Dafe is a trainee forensic psychologist for HM Prison and Probation Service. She previously worked for the charity User Voice and the London CRC before joining the prison service in 2018.

Their recommended reading:

Kazemian, L., & Farrington, D. (2018)Advancing knowledge about residual criminal careers: A follow-up to age 56 from the cambridge study in delinquent development. Journal of Criminal Justice, 57, 1.

Walton, J. S. (2019) The evolutionary basis of belonging: Its relevance to denial of offending and labelling those who offend. Journal of Forensic Practice, 21(4), 202-211. doi:10.1108/JFP-04-2019-0014

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