Blog

In this blog, Dr David Scott offers a critical appraisal of the legacy of the Woolf Report. The blog argues that whilst Woolf was heralded at the time of publication, it is a dated and limited approach to the penal crisis and the activists and practitioners looking for radical change should engage with the voices of prisoners, ex-prisoners and the families of prisoners in the present struggle. 

In this article, Dan McCulloch critically explores claims of a relationship between participatory visual research methods and 'voice'. Dan McCulloch is a Lecturer in Criminology and Social Policy at The Open University.

We take prisons for granted - but how effective are they? Are there better alternatives? In a new BBC ideas video, David Scott and Deborah H. Drake ask what a world without prisons would be like.

Stephen Akpabio-Klementowski considers the arguments for educating prisoners. Stephen Akpabio-Klementowski is a PhD candidate in Criminology, Associate Lecturer, and Regional Manager in the Students in Secure Environments team, at The Open University.

Dr. Eleni Dimou looks at how we have lost our relationality to nature and considers alternative indigenous perspectives that view human beings in connection and complementarity with Mother Earth.

In this article, Sharon Hartles reflects upon the significant impacts of avoidable harms that have been perpetuated for decades through a culture of denial and an absence of state and corporate pharmaceutical accountability. Sharon Hartles was awarded an MA in Crime and Justice (with distinction) from The Open University in December 2019 and is a member of HERC. 

In this article, Vickie Cooper reflects on the deaths of care home residents and social care workers in the UK during the Covid-19 pandemic. Vickie Cooper is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at The Open University.

In this article, Joe Sim and Steve Tombs explore the numbers game that has been played by the Government since the start of the coronavirus crisis – and question their efforts now to move on from it. Joe Sim is a Professor of Criminology at Liverpool John Moores University and Steve Tombs is a Professor of Criminology at The Open University.

In this article, David Scott argues that contemporary penal abolitionists can take inspiration not from British liberal anti-slavery ‘abolitionism from above’ but from the lived experiences and testimonies of slaves and former slaves. David Scott is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at The Open University.

In this article, Sharon Hartles and Liam Miles examine the significance of corporate criminality and leverage through the business activities of a Canadian multi-national company. Sharon Hartles was awarded an MA in Crime and Justice (with distinction) from The Open University in December 2019 and is a member of HERC. Liam Miles is a Second Year BA (Hons) Criminology student at Birmingham City University.