Current Projects

Lincoln Centre for Crime and Justice - Current Projects

 

Measuring and Improving the Health and Quality of Healthcare for People on Probation: Developing Data Collection and quality Indicators

This project is funded by the NIHR RfPB programme (Grant Reference Number NIHR201091) and led by Dr Coral Sirdifield. It aims to: 

a) Improve the measurement, understanding and recording of the health and social care needs of people under probation supervision by introducing a research-informed way of identifying people’s health and social care needs if they have been met. This will provide an accurate picture of needs, and where there may be gaps in service provision to meet them. 

b) Develop quality indicators to support health improvement amongst people on probation and to measure and monitor the quality of health and social care that people on probation receive. This will help to ensure that services are commissioned from an evidence-base, and probation staff can support access when needed. 

Further information about the project can be found at https://probationhealth.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/.

 

HMP Lincoln Whole Prison Approach to Addressing Gambling-related Harms 

Dr Lauren Smith and Rachael Mason from the LCCJ are currently working on an evaluation of the whole prison approach adopted by HMP Lincoln to address gambling-related harms amongst prisoners. The prison has implemented staff training, training for peers and specific screening for gambling behaviours, and have developed clear pathways into specialist support for people experiencing gambling-related harms, and their families. The evaluation will comprise a mixed methods approach including staff questionnaires, focus groups with people in prison, and follow up interviews with people who receive support. The project is currently undergoing ethics review and is expected to be completed towards the end of 2024.

 

The Role of Canteens and Shared Spaces in Police Wellbeing

Dr Carina O’Reilly is working with colleagues from Liverpool John Moores, the Open University, and the Police Federation to explore the role of canteens and shared spaces in police wellbeing. Severe cuts to police budgets in the last 12 years have seen the sale of much of the police estate, a significant drop in the number of police stations, and the redesign of internal spaces accordingly. This has reportedly led to a significant drop in the number of canteens and rest areas provided for police officers and staff.

Canteens have a symbolic importance in policing, with academic debates over their role in reinforcing police culture. However, some scholars have underlined the importance of canteens and similar spaces to officers who encounter traumatic events, often on a daily basis, and who often find themselves unable to speak openly to non-officers about their experiences. The loss of canteens and other spaces therefore may have a serious detrimental effect on police wellbeing.

 

Reframing Oral Rape

Dr Katie Hunt is currently researching oral rape law reform, critiquing the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and exploring alternative statutory approaches to assaults involving non-consensual oral penetration. She is engaging with abolitionist theory to evaluate criminalisation as a response to sexual violence, and the capacity of law reform to meet feminist aims generally.

 

Protecting Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service

Professor Karen Harrison, Dr Lauren Smith and Dr Chloe Wilson are currently working with the Prison Governor’s Association to explore the EDI experiences of prison governors and operational managers working in the UK. The project has four key objectives: 

1. To collect data on how prison staff across a range of job roles experience their workplace environment. 

2. To explore with participants whether they face discrimination based on the protected characteristics defined in the Equality Act 2010.  

3. To assess to what extent participants, feel like they belong or are included at work. 

4. If staff feel excluded, to consider what the barriers to inclusion are and what can be done to effect positive change.