BNU hosts “inspirational” prison reform conference to help drive change in criminal justice system
Buckinghamshire New University has hosted an “inspirational” prison reform conference to support and raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities facing the criminal justice system.
In collaboration with the Prison Reform Trust and various guest speakers, including former prisoners who have turned their lives around, the conference explored multiple topics in a packed programme with lunch served by street food social enterprise, Liberty Kitchen, made and sold by prisoners and ex-prisoners.
Opening the conference, Professor Nick Braisby, Vice-Chancellor, Buckinghamshire New University, said: “At BNU, we are deeply committed to advancing education and social justice. We believe in the power of education, not only for our students but as a transformative force in society. Just as we support our students on their journeys, we hold a firm belief that individuals in custody should be afforded opportunities, support, and education to succeed beyond prison walls and reintegrate as valued members of society.”
Split into the four themes, attendees heard from speakers about the current and varied circumstances current and former prisoners find themselves in; the school-to-prison pipeline and how background and upbringing influences the likelihood of both becoming imprisoned and recidivism; the need for hope and how that looks different for everyone in and released from prison; and reintegrating back into society and ‘moving on’.
BNU has a close educational relationship with several prisons locally, including HMP Pentonville and therapeutic community prison, HMP Grendon. Our forensic psychology department visits HMP Grendon regularly to learn about the experiences of its staff and residents, with some students going on to have careers there to help bolster its workforce.
Dr Ciaran O’Keefe, Head of School for Human and Social Sciences at BNU, explained the benefits this brings to all parties: “We open doors to our students to enhance their learning while trying to help the prison workforce. We also open our doors for their experienced staff and students to inform our curriculum.
“Rehabilitation through alternatives to punishment is key to stopping issues with the revolving door as individuals find themselves going in and out of prison. It is key to dealing with mental health and wellbeing and in seeing how individuals can ultimately thrive and be recognised for who they are, who they can be and not for mistakes made in the past. We are proud that David is a member of our student community.”
One prison leaver who is studying psychology at BNU and currently works for charity ADHD Liberty is David Breakspear. He spoke openly at the conference about the benefits education and work brought to him while in prison. “Providing opportunities in prison and after release gave me hope for a future beyond prison. Ensuring education for all is key to breaking the school pipeline to prison.”
Another speaker, Gethin Jones, who supports past and present prisoners and prison staff with reintegrating back into society, said the “inspirational” conference would now ‘shift his strategy to change public perception as a shift in public narrative will change future political decisions’ on the various issues.
Dr Mallowan said: "On behalf of myself, Katrina Heath and David Adlington Rivers from the Forensic Psychology team, we would like to express a heartfelt thanks to our courageous keynote speakers for sharing their incredible stories with us yesterday.
"As one of our speakers so rightly said, 'I have never been to such a psychologically safe event!' and I couldn’t agree more, something that I believe also permeates our teaching with BNU forensic psychology students.
"This event ran in collaboration with the Prison Reform Trust, with tickets sales allowing us to donate £565 to them. We asked delegates to provide calls for action, something we will now work towards, with Prison Reform Trust, as part of our civic role as a university; helping to change and improve people’s lives.
"We were also fortunate enough to be able to support the prison-based catering initiative Liberty Kitchen, with food prepared inside HMP Pentonville the morning of the event and served by some of their prison-leavers. The food was fabulous!
"We look forward to carrying out more work that we can do in the area of prison reform."
For further information, please contact Dr Mallowan here Nicola.Mallowan@Bucks.ac.uk.