NCJ Number
235032
Journal
Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice Volume: 11 Issue: 2-3 Dated: March - June 2011 Pages: 124-150
Date Published
April 2011
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This paper examines policies of democratic style prison-based treatment models.
Abstract
The penal system of England and Wales has been greatly influenced in the past two decades by the emergence of a moral framework or 'decency agenda'. What decency means to prisoners and how decency can be embodied into daily prison life, however, remains underexplored. Drawing from her original research in prison-based democratic therapeutic communities (TCs), the author argues that decency is experienced in TCs through an ethic of care and an ethos of change. TC residents benefit from atypical institutional practices which encourage the formation of supportive relationships with prison staff and facilitate meaningful opportunities for personal change. (Published Abstract)