Professor Jackie Hodgson gave an interview last Wednesday 11 April to Talk Radio Europe, an English radio station based in Spain, to speak about the research she conducted with Dr Juliet Horne on the Prisoners’ Penfriends scheme.

The in-depth 2015 study on a prison pen pal programme, which operated in 52 prisons in England and Wales, found the scheme contributed to prisoner wellbeing, offering early warning of potential suicide and improving the chances of successful rehabilitation.

The research looked at the effect of a pen pal writing relationship between more than 90 prisoners and their volunteer pen pals.

Jackie tells us, ‘I was happy to be interviewed and to have an opportunity to explain the benefits of this kind of scheme, which provides a friendly ear and an outlet for prisoners whose lives are otherwise entirely prison-centred 24 hours a day.’

‘It’s key to their rehabilitation and their ability to re-enter society that they can imagine a life outside prison and relationships with people that are not connected to their previous offending.’

Jackie shared some of their unanticipated findings too. ‘We were surprised at how much the penfriends on the outside, mainly women over 50, also benefitted and the extent to which their motivations mirrored many of those of the prisoners. Those writing to prisoners believe that people have broken the law but still deserve some compassion and help to rebuild their life – an outcome which ultimately benefits society.’

‘We were also struck by the extent to which letter writing provided a lifeline for many prisoners: giving them purpose, transforming their belief in their ability to live a regular life on release and directing them away from self-harm etc.’

Jackie is a Professor here at the School of Law and an expert on comparative criminal procedure. Although currently not working on this study topic, Jackie is looking to follow up the research as she explains, ‘Following the publication of our research, which was launched together with former HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, Lord Ramsbotham, in the House of Lords in 2015, the scheme has seen a huge increase in activity. Many more prisons now allow the scheme to operate with their inmates and there has been a 50% increase in the number of prisoners writing to a penfriend. The scheme also has a small number of female prisoners for the first time, which is another interesting development to explore.’