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.
Congratulations Lauren Smithand Rachael Mason for publishing a new book on the prison governor’s wellbeing, along with Karen Harrison and Helen Nichols!!! Â Grab your copy now!
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 BPSâ 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.Â
Congrats to Dr Tochukwu (Tochs) Onwuegbusi and Prof Todd Hogue who, together with an ex-student and an ex-Lincoln colleague, have had a paper on the validity of the Attitudes Towards Sex Offenders Scale (ATS) published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology.
Abstract
Negative attitudes toward offenders may hinder the rehabilitation process. The present study examines the relationship between attitudes toward sex offenders and stated acceptance of offenders and non-offenders into various aspects of daily life. Sixty female members of the public (18â50âyears old, UK residents, recruited by word of mouth and via social media) completed an attitudes towards sex offenders (ATS) scale and indicated for each of eight vignettes describing ex-offenders and non-offenders whether they would accept them in various situations (housing, employment, day-to-day activities). Results indicate that in this group of female participants, harsher attitudes toward sex offenders are associated with lower acceptance of sex offenders (around 50% less acceptance) and other offenders (around 25% less acceptance), but not non-offenders, suggesting a tight coupling between attitudes and acceptance. The observed coupling between attitudes toward sex offenders and acceptance of offenders suggests that it will be difficult to change one without changing the other.
Rawson, L., Hermens, F., Onwuegbusi, T., & Hogue, T. (2024). The construct validity of Attitudes towards Sex Offenders (ATS) scale: ATS is more strongly linked to the acceptance of sex offenders than other offenders or non-offenders. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sjop.13031
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.
