The Locked up Living Podcast: Surviving and thriving in prisons and other challenging environments

By Podcasters David Jones & Dr Naomi MurphySociety & Culture Health & Fitness Mental Health True Crime

The Locked up Living Podcast: Surviving and thriving in prisons and other challenging environments episodes

June 02, 2021 24. Sophie Ellis: Servant of the state or therapeutic agent?
Sophie Ellis is a researcher at the Prisons Research Centre, at Cambridge University. She’s interested in the experience of imprisonment for those who live and work in prisons, and in the effects of prison on families. She’s also interested in the intersection between the ‘psy’ disciplines, and state institutions. Before arriving at Cambridge, she spent nine years working in prison-based psychology roles, doing assessments and group-based cognitive-behavioural programmes with prisoners.
During her time in the Prison Service, Sophie conducted research on the psychosocial characteristics of men who behaved violently in custody, and desisted over the course of their sentence. She was interested in how people managed to desist in an environment that typically has elevated levels of violence.
Sophie’s PhD is looking at the role of psychologists in English prisons. It explores their history, their culture, their professional identity, and how they make decisions about deploying their power and expertise in a socially and morally complex environment like prison.
1 hr 16 min
May 26, 2021 23. Marc Kozlowski: What’s it like to be a forensic psychologist?.
What does working as a forensic psychologist look like? Should I train as a clinical psychologist or a forensic psychologist? Am I too old to train as an applied psychologist? These are some of dilemmas facing todays guest
Marc originally thought of becoming a clinical psychologist before taking a twenty year break as a software developer. When he returned to psychology he took a different path.
Marc has been a practitioner forensic psychologist since 2003, becoming chartered with the British Psychological Society in 2006. He was Head of Psychology at four UK prisons, two in England and two in Scotland. In addition to conducting and reporting on risk assessments on serious offenders, Marc was involved in the delivery and management of accredited offending behaviour interventions that addressed intimate partner violence, general violence, sexual offending, substance-related offending, and anger-related violence. One aspect of his role that Marc particularly valued, was supervising Forensic Psychologists in Training as they worked towards chartership. He is delighted to be able to continue this nurturing and guidance role in his work with the students at Edinburgh Napier University.

Marc’s specialisms within forensic psychology are personality disordered offenders, intimate partner violence, hostage negotiation, and trauma-informed working.

Since joining Edinburgh Napier University, Marc has led on the development of a new Applied Forensic Psychology Master’s programme, which was accredited by the BPS in March 2021. Marc has designed the programme to enable students to develop some of the skills and insights that they will need in the workplace, so that they become immediately helpful to employers once they have graduated.

Marc continues, in a private capacity, to conduct risk assessments for both criminal justice and family courts. In this way his skills and experience remain current, something that he hopes will benefit the generation of psychology students currently studying at Edinburgh Napier University.
1 hr 18 min
May 19, 2021 22. Charlotte Knight, Emotional Literacy in Prisons and the Criminal Justice System
Why are emotions rarely discussed in forensic work? Are we frightened to discuss emotions like fear, sadness and shame? Is it dangerous to discuss these feelings? Would the criminal justice system look different if people did discuss their emotions more openly?
Somehow emotions and thinking became disconnected from many of our key services. We are fortunate that a number of skilled and experienced practitioners have taken time to reflect on the place of feelings and emotions in everyday life and the way they can affect our judgements.
Our latest guest, Charlotte Knight, began her career in the probation service in 1973 and has extensive experience as a probation officer in a range of settings including both prison and the community.
In the second half of her career, Charlotte has been much more involved in working academically to develop probation officers. Her academic work involved setting up a diploma in probation studies and enabling the creation of a degree in criminology at De Montfort Uni. She completed a PhD in criminology in 2012 on the subject of emotional literacy in criminal justice and the book that emerged from this is a refreshing read for anyone who’s involved with the CJS. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Emotional-Literacy-Criminal-Justice-Professional/dp/1137273208)
Although Charlotte retired from full-time teaching in 2011, she’s continued to work on a number of European Probation projects and also wrote a second book on LGBT people and the CJS. (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lesbian-Bisexual-People-Criminal-Justice/dp/1137496975/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Lesbian%2C+Gay%2C+Bisexual+and+Trans+People+%28LGBT%29+and+the+Criminal+Justice+System&qid=1621372526&s=books&sr=1-1)
1 hr 40 min
May 12, 2021 21. Robert Canton: Does remorse matter?
Work in the criminal justice sector evokes strong emotions. Whilst staff might often act as if frightened, angry or disgusted, its rare to hear them speak candidly about these feelings in a healthy manner. Rob argues the criminal justice system would be a healthier place if feelings like these were discussed.

Rob Canton is Professor in Community and Criminal Justice at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. Before joining De Montfort, he worked in the Probation Service for some 20 years in a number of different roles. Rob has contributed to probation development and general penal reform in more than ten different countries, mostly in Europe. He was co-opted to the Council of Europe to develop the European Probation Rules (2007 - 10) and again in 2015 - 2016 to revise the European Rules on Community Sanctions and Measures. He also acted as a Specialist Adviser to the House ofCommons Justice Select Committee in its Inquiry into the Role of the Probation Service (2010 - 11).
Rob has written a number of articles and book chapters, many about probation, although also about international work and policy transfer. His book, Probation: Working with Offenders , was published by Routledge in 2011, and a second edition, Probation , written with Jane Dominey, came out at the end of 2017. More recently, he has been trying to understand punishment more widely and Why Punish? An Introduction to the Philosophy of Punishment was published by Palgrave Macmillan in June 2017.
1 hr 16 min
May 05, 2021 20. Leslie Soble and Roy Waterman: Food in Prison
We are very excited by this episode and had a great time meeting our two guests from the USA. Food is central to our existence, health and wellbeing. All of us.
Leslie Soble is a research fellow for the Food in Prison Project and the lead author of Impact Justice’s recent report, Eating Behind Bars: Ending the Hidden Punishment of Food in Prison. An ethnographer and folklorist, Leslie holds an MA in cultural sustainability with a focus on the intersection of foodways, narrative theory, and social practice art.
Roy Waterman is a chef, mentor, activist and agent of change, one who is committed to assisting in the growth and the development of the lives of all people, especially those formerly incarcerated.
Leslie and Roy engage in a stimulating and hard hitting conversation about the meaning of food in prison, how it is managed and used as a tool to further punish and humiliate incarcerated people. This was the starting point in a discussion which touched upon the use of language and the matter of power and politics in the administration of justice.
For more on how to avoid the use of negative language follow this link. https://cmjcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/CNUS-AppropriateLanguage.pdf
1 hr 30 min
April 28, 2021 19. Sarah Peyton - trauma and women in prison
"In this episode David and Naomi talk with Sarah Peyton a neuroscience educator, constellation facilitator, Nonviolent Communication Trainer and author of Your Resonant Self and Your Resonant Self Workbook about her work with women in a prison in the USA. Sarah invites audiences into a compassionate understanding of the effects of relational trauma on the brain and teaches about how to use resonance to change and heal. She discusses how introducing people to the neuroscience of trauma can help them gain mastery over their past.

Check out her website www.sarahpeyton.com to find stacks of resources including meditations that are tailored for those who might struggle to participate in this ordinarily".
50 min
April 21, 2021 18. Roland Woodward - forensic psychology and therapeutic environments
Roland Woodward is a chartered forensic psychologist and has more than forty years’ experience of working in the criminal justice system, most of it within the prison service. Roland worked at HMP Grendon and has also managed the psychological services at HMP Gartree where he opened the first therapeutic community for life sentence prisoners. Following that he was the first Director of Therapy at the Dovegate prison therapeutic community which has 200 residents in five different communities. In this conversation he describes his beginning at the young offender's prison Glen Parva and how he learned about therapeutic communities from Judy Mackenzie before moving to HMP Grendon to be 'deconstructed'. This is an amusing and vivid account of his time from being a 'junior' psychologist to creating a major treatment facility at HMP Dovegate and the way that his philosophy developed and influenced his policy decisions
1 hr 13 min
April 14, 2021 17. Dr Gerard Drennan on Restorative Justice
What is Restorative Justice? Is it a "soft touch" approach to crime and reducing offending? How do victims of crime experience RJ? Does punishment work better?

Dr Gerard Drennan Ph.D. is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, who holds the post of Head of Psychology & Psychotherapy in the Behavioural & Developmental Psychiatric Operational Directorate of the South London & Maudsley Mental Health Foundation Trust. He is also an Honorary Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at Kings College London.Gerard qualified as a clinical psychologist in Cape Town.His doctoral research examined the practical and political role of language and interpreters in mental health practice in post-colonial, institutional settings.This research ran concurrently with the work of South African Truth and Reconciliation and was touched, as all South Africans were, by the restorative aspirations of that nation-building endeavour.Gerard has held clinical and leadership roles in forensic and offender mental health settings in London and Sussex for the past 20 years. This included a leadership role in developing the Millfield Unit, part of the Personality Disorder and DSPD project. He has published on the implementation of recovery-oriented practice and, since training in restorative justice conferencing in 2012, has worked and written on the place of restorative justice practices in mental health settings.
1 hr 8 min
April 07, 2021 16. Justin Wiggan - the therapeutic benefits of sound
Sound artist, Justin Wiggan has been described as “one of the most important artists working across arts and health right now. His ground-breaking work has huge potential for impact across life sciences and is a testament to the power of creativity in health and well-being”.
Anyone who has been inside a prison will have experienced the eerie
silence when everyone is locked up and the cacophony of sound at other times. We may learn to neutralise those sounds but Justin shows how sound has beauty and meaning
Justin’s practice includes a range of media from sound, phonics, film, drawing, installation, interventions and performance and he’s collaborated with a wide range of individuals across medical, research and creative industries sectors. His works have been exhibited nationally and internationally and he has described his own aim as being to educate, share and engage people with sound and reconnect with their lives using sound art.

In addition to his artistic practice, Justin has extended his artistic practice to work with young people and community groups particularly those associated with increased vulnerability such as within palliative care and mental health.

Finally, Justin runs Glass Twin a company that use sound as a tool to promote mental well-being through developing soundscapes and he’s worked within hospices, prison and schools as well as with the emergency services and charities supporting people with mental health needs. It’s within this capacity where Naomi came across Justin who worked with her to try and find some ways to enrich the environment of the Fens Unit, Whitemoor Prison, and create meaningful use of sound.
http://www.justinwiggan.co.uk/
https://uk.linkedin.com/company/glass-twin-limited?trk=public_profile_topcard-current-company
1 hr 9 min
March 31, 2021 15. Dr Robin Hadley on Male Involuntary Childlessness
What's it like to be a male desperate to be a parent but experiencing childlessness?
Dr Rob Hadley is an independent research consultant who has conducted research with the Open University and Manchester Metropolitan University where he is an associate lecturer. His research concerns the impact of male involuntary childlessness across the life course. He studied the topic for his dissertation and discovered there was very little information about men’s desire for fatherhood or experience of unwanted childlessness.
He is also a counsellor and author of Male Childlessness as well as numerous book chapters and journal articles on this theme.
This may seem like an unusual topic for us but there are many men who are incarcerated for years and from an early age. For those men in the high secure estate who aren’t already fathers when they come to prison they are likely spend the period of life most associated with reproductive success inside and possibly miss the boat altogether.
Rob has been unshirking in facing up to the issues around involuntary childlessness. Many of these issues are rarely spoken about, if at all and it does not always make for comfortable listening. But in the end it makes for an affecting and thought provoking conversation.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Man-Supposed-Childlessness-Reproduction-ebook/dp/B08XJCVRZJ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=35ETNMYHPQYXA&keywords=male+childlessness&qid=1671062273&sprefix=male+childlessness%2Caps%2C65&sr=8-1
59 min

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