Sexual Crime and the Experience of Imprisonment

Book excerpt: This book focuses on the experience of imprisonment from the perspectives of individuals with sexual convictions. It stresses the importance of a positive and rehabilitative prison climate. The volume begins with an exploration of the theoretical underpinnings of a rehabilitative prison climate and discusses some of the practical ways of creating rehabilitative cultures in prisons housing people convicted of sexual offences. Four empirical chapters focus on the experience of stigmatisation, prison officers’ attitudes towards prisoners’ offences, negotiating the ‘sex offender’ identity in prisons and the varied experience of ‘being’ in prisons exclusively for individuals with sexual convictions. Throughout the authors discuss the specific benefits of peer-support, such as the chance to earn self-forgiveness, construct adaptive identities and consequently move away from harmful labels. The book also spotlights a chapter on the experience of imprisonment written by a former service-user, this unique position offers an insightful account of an individual’s journey through the prison system.