Lauren Smithand Rachael Mason attended and presented the at the International Corrections and Prisons Conference (ICPA) in Singapore!
The talks are listed below:
Smith, L. & Mason, R. (2024, September 1-6). Meeting the needs of autistic adults and adults with learning disabilities in prisons in the Midlands (UK). International Corrections and Prisons Association 2024 Annual Conference, Singapore. International.
Harrison, K., Mason, R. & Smith, L. (2024, September 1-6). Aging in the prison service: Experiences of prison governors in England and Wales. International Corrections and Prisons Association 2024 Annual Conference, Singapore. International.
Dr Tochs Onwuegbusi and Prof. Todd Hogue, along with PhD student, David Karan, attended and presented several papers at the European Association of Psychology and Law (EAPL) conference in Lisbon, Portugal (9-13 July). One of the papers focused on the use of eye tracking as a tool to identify biased jurors, while the other discussed biases that affect jury verdict decision-making.
Phil Willmot, Rachael Dagnall, and Ross Bartels (along with and MSc student Jessica Manganaro) all presented at the BPS’ Division of Forensic Psychology (DFP) annual conference in Cardiff (1st – 3rd July).
Ross (and Jessica) ran a symposium on the psychology of sexual fantasising; Rachael presented a talk about a Unique Homelessness Psychologically Informed Environment; and Phil spoke about a trauma-informed approach to therapeutic boundaries as part of a symposium.
On the 14th May, Lauren Smith gave a Pint of Science talk in the The Cardinal’s 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.
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).
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.
On the 9th March, Dr Hannah Merdian gave a presentation and delivered a training session to Circles Southwest Volunteers.
Circles UK is a registered charity and the national body supporting the development, quality, coordination and effectiveness of providers of Circles of Support and Accountability. In response to the profile of individuals with an online sex offence history, Circles developed Circles ReBoot, which is shorter than a “traditional” Circle and offers a more structured format, focused on achieving goals and fostering skills development. Hannah presented on the feasibility of ReBoot and led a discussion on employment needs of Circles participants.
Dr Lauren Smith and Rachael Mason, along with Roger Bretherton and Karen Harrison have had an external report published online (11th March). The report is entitled Review of the Spark Inside Coaching Programme for Prison Staff. The news article and access to the report can be found here.
The team also took part in a knowledge exchange event about the evaluation findings with Spark Inside, HM Prison and Probation Service, and the Ministry of Justice. It is hoped the work will lead to further evaluation work of other Spark Inside programmes and to increased funding and opportunity for Spark Inside within prisons.
FCRG members, Dr Lauren Smith and Rachael Mason, along with Dr Niko Kargas, facilitated two knowledge exchange workshops – one for staff and one for prisoners – at HMP North Sea Camp on Friday 1st March 2024.
The workshops were based on their previous NHSE commissioned work entitled ‘Meeting the needs of autistic adults and adults with learning disabilities in Midlands prisons’, which aims to develop impact within the prison. They have been invited back to do another workshop, specifically for healthcare staff at North Sea Camp! Well done team!
Dr Lauren Smith, along with colleagues from the Lincoln Law School, Prof Karen Harrison and Dr Chloe Wilson, were invited to share their findings about the ‘Diversity and Inclusion Experiences of Prison Governors‘ with the Prison Governors Association National Executive Committee last Wednesday (14th February, 2024). The team, which also includes FCRG member, Rachael Mason, are now co-producing recommendations to improve diversity and inclusion experiences with a group of prison governors.
