Prisoners as citizens, big society and the rehabilitation revolution : truly revolutionary?

BIRD, Hayden and ALBERTSON, Katherine (2011). Prisoners as citizens, big society and the rehabilitation revolution : truly revolutionary? British journal of community justice, 9 (1/2), 93-109.

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Abstract

Given the government's commitment to localism, social inclusion and transfer of power from politicians to communities embodied by the Big Society agenda, we question whether these principles have been adequately translated within 'Payments by Results' and the supposed 'Rehabilitation Revolution' Green Paper. Of all the communities in our diverse society, offenders should specifically be included to encourage them to become more responsible citizens and, therefore, participate fully in creating a more responsible society? However, accessing offender voices in the prison setting can often prove challenging, as will be discussed. The authors have been involved in using qualitative methodologies in evaluations of predominately voluntary sector arts and media projects with prison communities since 2005. With these data, this article explores opportunities for encouraging citizenship status in the prison community. Prisoners engaging with these projects report significant impacts of their engagement, including increases in their feelings of self worth, hope and belief in their own personal capacity to alter the way they behave.

Item Type:	Article
Research Institute, Centre or Group - Does NOT include content added after October 2018:	Law Research Group
Page Range:	93-109
Depositing User:	Katherine Albertson
Date Deposited:	03 Jul 2015 11:17
Last Modified:	18 Mar 2021 04:22
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/10385

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