Award for research into deaf prisoners

Dr Laura Kelly, who is a lecturer in criminology at the University of Central Lancashire, will receive the Prison Service Journal outstanding article of the year 2017 at an award ceremony at HMP Grendon in June, for her work entitled Suffering in Silence: The unmet needs of Deaf prisoners.

Her work is the most in-depth research yet carried out about the experiences of deaf prisoners in England and Wales and has provided a level of insight which had not been available before. Her article presented findings from a doctoral research which explored the experiences of deaf prisoners in England and Wales and used interviews with prisoners and staff from seven prisons in England. The article concluded that the Prison Service was failing to meet the needs of deaf people in prison in any consistent way. Consequently, these individuals are often forced to live in a form of continual solitary confinement through no fault of their own.

Acknowledgement: Messenger Newspapers