Å·ÃÀ¾ÞÈé

Simon Scott - doctoral research (in progress) 'Living the Life Sentence: qualitative studies of people serving life sentences in the community directly and vicariously'

The successful reintegration of people convicted of a serious violent and/or sexual offence is almost entirely predicated on the extent to which an individual has been rehabilitated. In my PhD, I introduce a novel framework, Penal Fire: Social Warmth, which delineates the structural and societal forces at play for individuals with a serious conviction. To develop this framework, I built upon concepts from Simon (2011) linking political change in response to salient penal events, and Chau (2008) apropos the benefits of social exchanges. In my thesis, I explain the development of the model, theorise how it can explicate the reintegration of people convicted of a serious offence and the harms caused to any person/organisation connected to them, identify specific instances of penal fire and social warmth that affect the reintegration of people and present several case studies to demonstrate the mechanisms involved. The Penal Fire: Social Warmth model provides a theoretical framework as well as providing material for empirical testing; it is presented as a missing link in the rehabilitation, reintegration and desistance literature which deserves the attention of those working and/or formulating policy and practice in the forensic arena.