'Portraits from the Inside'

The idea for the project began over three years ago with a view at understanding the experiences of prisoners through the judicial system. The rise in the prison population was regularly documented by the media stating jails were overcrowded. This led to ‘Operation Safeguard a contingency plan to deal with prison overcrowding in the UK which was implemented in 2006. In terms of the project, Ian was most looking forward to working with offenders who he would not normally have contact with at the gym. In addition to this he hoped that the project would provide an alternative perspective of offenders in prison.

During my research I found little information available on prisoners’ direct experiences on whether they felt systems in place to address their reoffending were effective enough. I decided to approach the project from a different perspective by linking the aims and the objectives of the project to the Prison Service’s 7 Pathways.

The inspiration for the project was to have the victims and potential victims central to what offenders have achieved while in prison.

With factual information provided from offenders concerning their experiences; it is hoped this will benefit other offenders, members of the Criminal Justice Group, National Offender Management Service (NOMS), Ministry for Justice, Probation, Prison Service and outside organisations.

The project aims to show the continued commitment to reducing reoffending as outlined by ‘Punishment and Reform’ Offender Management Strategy (2008) by having the public at the centre of what the Prison Service, Probation and Ministry of Justice deliver.

It is hoped that the outcome will show to society how offenders pay their debt to society and are given the chance to change.