Psychological Research in Prisons

Professor Graham J. Towl, Chief Psychologist, National Offender Management Services, is the editor of Psychology in Prisons (BPS Blackwell, 2003), and a co-editor of Suicide in Prisons (BPS Blackwell, 2000), Applying Psychology to Forensic Practice (BPS Blackwell, 2003), and Psychology in Probation Services (BPS Blackwell, 2004).

“Psychological Research in Prisons provides an impressive collection of accessible and informed chapters, each highlighting the extent to which psychological theory and research can inform the work of practitioners, and how practice can influence the direction of research.” Julie Harrower, Chartered Forensic Psychologist, Head of Psychology at Coventry University and Chair of the DFP Board of Examiners“Psychological Research in Prisons contains some new and interesting empirical results. But its main achievement is to put the question mark firmly back into ‘What works?’ Early chapters explore how, often tentative, research findings about interventions which might reduce reoffending have become translated into overly prescriptive policies that actually serve to undermine rather than foster effective practice. This is a book by psychologists but its readership should be much wider – policy makers, prison governors, probation and prison staff, and criminologists will all find much food for thought within its pages.” Professor Carol Hedderman, University of Leicester “It is sure to become a new standard reference book in this field. It will be a very useful aid to the work of psychologists in Japan, who are currently introducing CBT within custodial settings.” Hiroshi Urata, Senior Psychologist, Wakayama Juvenile Classification Home, Japan

• Foreword. Notes on Contributors.Introduction. (Graham J. Towl).1. Methodological Issues in Psychological Research in Prisons. (David A. Crighton).2. The Modern Context of Psychology in Corrections: Influences, Limitations and Values of ‘What Works’. (Brian A. Thomas-Peter).3. The Needs of Offenders and the Process of Changing Them. (Brian A. Thomas Peter).4. Psychological Research into Reducing Suicides. (David A. Crighton).5. Psychological Understanding of Self-Injury and Attempted Suicide in Prisons. (Louisa Snow).6. The Effective Management of Bullying in Prisons: Working Towards an Evidence-Based Approach. (Jane L. Ireland).7. Drug-Misuse Intervention Work. (Graham J. Towl).8. Research Into High-Intensity Training (HIT) with Young People. (Derval Ambrose).9. Military Corrective Training Centre: An Evaluation. (David P. Farrington, Kate A. Painter and Darrick Jolliffe).10. Psychological Research into Life Sentence Offenders. (David A. Crighton and Jo Bailey).11. Psychological Research Into Sexual Offenders. (David A. Crighton).Bibliography.Index