Nicola Bassetto

Thesis: In the Shadow Of the Penal State: A Systematic Historical Analysis Of the Penal Voluntary Sector In England and Wales

The penal voluntary sector (PVS) has long played an important role alongside the criminal justice system in England and Wales, providing services, campaigning for reform and supporting people affected by the justice system. Yet despite its contemporary significance, surprisingly little is known about how this sector developed historically or how voluntary organisations negotiated their relationship with the penal state. This research provides the first systematic historical study of the PVS in England and Wales, focusing on its development across the twentieth century.

Drawing primarily on the Rainer Foundation Archive, the study examines how voluntary organisations sought to maintain distinctive identities and charitable missions while operating within rapidly changing penal and socio-economic contexts. It explores how charitable leaders responded to transformations ranging from the post-1945 Keynesian settlement to the later marketisation of criminal justice, and asks whether the expansion of the PVS contributed to new forms of social control and the dispersal of discipline. By centring the concept of charitable agency, the research will investigate how voluntary organisations influenced the state, protected their institutional values and adapted strategically to changing circumstances. Through archival research, engagement with specialist collections and interviews with voluntary-sector decision-makers, the project aims to provide a new historical account of the relationship between voluntary action, punishment, welfare and the state.

Biography:

Nicola Bassetto is a Doctoral Researcher in Criminology at the University of Nottingham, funded by the ESRC Midlands Graduate School and working in collaboration with the National Justice Museum. He holds a BA in Strategic and Security Sciences from the University of Turin and an MA in Criminological Sciences from the University of Bologna, and has studied and conducted research in Italy and abroad. His research interests include critical and historical criminology, policing and social control, narratives of violence and conflict, social harm, and epistemic justice. His previous research has examined policing and urban space, representations of violence and conflict, and social and linguistic dynamics in minority territories. His doctoral research focuses on the historical development of the penal voluntary sector in England and Wales and its changing relationship with the state, punishment, welfare and social control.

Other research interests:

- Critical criminology

- Historical criminology

- Policing and social control

- Social harm

- Narratives of violence and conflict

- Epistemic justice

School of Sociology and Social Policy

University of Nottingham

2026 Cohort

LinkedIn: Nicola Bassetto | LinkedIn

Supervisors:

Philippa Tomczak

Thomas Guiney

Bev Baker

Collaborative Partner:

National Justice Museum