Congrats to Dr Lauren Smith who has had an article (with her colleagues) published .
Abstract
The wellbeing of prison governors has received little attention in penological research to date. The findings of this research reveal that governorsâ wellbeing is negatively impacted by a dominant Masculinity Contest Culture (MCC) permeating through the organisation. While MCC negatively contributes to governorsâ wellbeing, they continue to engage in hegemonic masculine performances to show no weakness to cope with the pressures of working life. This has led to the emergence of a âhyper-MCCâ which we define as an overperformance of the MCC social script that is seen as a requirement to cope within an increasingly challenging workplace. The implications of hyper-MCC are a perpetuation of a toxic working culture and a reduced likelihood of engaging with wellbeing services. The response needs to be developing the right types of support that can attempt to re-frame dominant masculine working cultures, challenge hyper-MCC performances and remove the individualised responsibility of wellbeing away from the workforce themselves. However, this cultural shift will only be effective if coupled with a meaningful reconsideration of working conditions, which have resulted in the intensification of workloads and practices.
Nichols, H., Saunders, G., Harrison, K., Mason, R., Smith, L., & Hall, L. (2024). Itâs not ok to not be ok . . . when youâre a prison governor: The impact of workplace culture on prison governorsâ wellbeing in England, Scotland and Wales.âŻIncarceration,âŻ5.âŻhttps://doi.org/10.1177/26326663241253698
On the 14th May, Lauren Smith gave a Pint of Science talk in the The Cardinalâs Hat pub about how gambling can lead some people to end up to prison and what is being done to support people to reduce gambling-related harms.
On the 15th May, Rachael Mason gave a Pint of Science talk in The Pessimist that involved the audience developing an idea for a project, wherein Rachael took them through steps to identify the purpose of the project.
Also on the 15th May, Ross Bartels gave Pint of Science talk in Dough Loco about what we know about why people are so fascinated by serial killers, which includes some of his own recent research on the topic.
Dr Lauren Smith and Rachael Mason, gave an invited talk at the Linc-Eval launch and showcase on Friday 26th April.Â
Their talk showcased examples of evaluations undertaken within the remit of the Lincoln Centre for Crime and Justice and the FCRG. Examples discussed were the review of autism and learning disability services in Midlands prisons (also involving Todd Hogue), and evaluation of Ladder4Life Trauma informed training (also involving Rachael Dagnall). Â
Dr Lauren Smith and Rachael Mason, along with Thomas George, have been awarded ÂŁ3,675 by developmentplus to re-evaluate Project Compass – a local initiative supporting people experiencing homelessness.Â
Specifically, Year 9 and 10 students, alongside other members of the public, came to the event to take part in various science related activities. Tochs and Georgina provided people with the opportunity to take part in an eye tracking demo whereby their eye movements were tracked watch a short crime take place. People who took part appeared to enjoy it and were interested in the implications of findings from research like this for the criminal justice system.
