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Risk and vulnerability in prison populations to be explored at Birkbeck colloquium

One-day multi-disciplinary event

Global concerns over vulnerability in prison populations will be explored during a colloquium at Birkbeck next month. Senior academics, policy makers and practitioners will gather at the one-day event on October 21 to discuss the social, legal, ethical and political questions arising from how prisons treat their most vulnerable and high risk prisoners.

Risk and Vulnerability in Prison Populations: a Global Crisis, is hosted by the Birkbeck Institute for Social Research (BISR) in collaboration with the Institute for Criminal Policy Research (ICPR).

A global crisis

The colloquium, which is open for all to attend, comes at a time when over-use of imprisonment around the world and its associated harms are widely accepted as having reached a crisis point.  

Related worrying trends include:

  • Disproportionality and discrimination in the incarceration of women and BAME, indigenous and non-national persons, Muslims, and individuals convicted of immigration offences
  • Evidence of radicalization and extremism in prisons, especially those marked by large pre-trial populations, overcrowding, lack of purposeful activity and low levels of personal support or outside contact.

“As the huge economic and social costs of mass incarceration become clearer, policies to reduce prisoner numbers are gaining ground in some parts of the world. There is a growing imperative to re-evaluate what we expect of our prison systems,” said Catherine Heard, director of ICPR World Prison Research Programme, and the co-ordinator of the colloquium.

“Managing the genuine and serious risks posed by some prisoners is a much more difficult task in grossly overcrowded, under-staffed and under-funded establishments. Many of those prisoners who are the most vulnerable should not be in prison at all. The essential precondition for safe, humane and effective management of vulnerability and risk in prisons is a major reduction in the use of imprisonment.”

About the colloquium

October’s colloquium will be structured around two core themes: available strategies for reducing prison populations and how research can contribute to this goal; and the identification of safe, just and humane ways of handling the risks and vulnerabilities presented by those individuals for whom prison remains unavoidable.

Across the day, ten senior figures in the fields of justice, prison studies, public policy and psychology will address a variety of topics relating to the core themes. See the full programme, and list of speakers.

Attendees at the event will include academics, policy makers and practitioners in law, criminology, human rights, mental health, sociology, social justice, international development, geo-politics and security.

Ms Heard added: “The intention of this colloquium is to bring a cross-disciplinary perspective to a subject usually dominated by criminal justice theories and law reform strategies. Our aims are to encourage productive debate around these core issues, and to look at future opportunities for collaborative research and policy formation.”

The October colloquium forms part of ICPR's new World Prison Research Programme, which undertakes comparative, policy orientated research on prisons and the use of imprisonment. It will also explore the themes of ICPR’s new publication, Imprisonment Worldwide: The Current Situation and an Alternative Future’, which proposes a radical re-think on the use of imprisonment worldwide and offers an alternative model for the future. The book, published by Policy Press, draws on data collected in ICPR’s World Prison Brief.

‘Risk and Vulnerability in Prison Populations: a Global Crisis’ runs on Friday, October 21, at 30 Russell Square. View the full programme and book a place on the event.

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