Experiencing very long term imprisonment from young adulthood: identity, adaptation and penal legitimacy Event

In England and Wales, a growing number of prisoners are serving sentences of a length that was almost unheard of a generation ago. This development has generated considerable unease among practitioners, concerned about the impact of this population on institutional stability, but has generated relatively little academic research. This seminar reports on a major study of male prisoners serving very long life terms (tariffs of fifteen years or more), sentenced when aged twenty-five or under. Specifically, it will discuss the main problems of long-term confinement that they experience, and the ways that they adapt to these problems, find meaning in their lives, and manage such issues as time, shame and thoughts of the future at different stages of the sentence. It will also describe the ways in which these prisoners think about the legitimacy of their predicament, and the modes of compliance and non-compliance that result. Comments will be offered on the relevance of the research findings for prison sociology generally.