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The ‘Dead Zone’ in the Stories of People in Prison

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Issues and Innovations in Prison Health Research

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology ((PSIPP))

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Abstract

This chapter derives from a qualitative evaluation on the impact of a prisons-based horticulture and environmental programme concerning the health and well-being of participants selected from four UK prisons. The primary research approach used was the biographic-narrative interpretive method (BNIM). The chapter explores some of the strengths and challenges with regard to conducting BNIM interviews with people in prison in order to build individual case studies. One such case study, with a participant serving a life sentence, is used to illustrate the challenges and benefits of understanding the stories of people in prison, including notions such as rehabilitation of the participant when the criminal act for which they are serving their sentence is consciously avoided in their story.

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Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank the participants in prison who placed themselves in a position of intentional vulnerability by telling their stories; the prisons and prison staff involved in the study who helped facilitate the BNIM interviews; and delegates at the Carceral Bodies: Prisons Research Symposium 2017 in Belfast who gave feedback on an early version of this paper given as an oral presentation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK

    Alan Farrier

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  1. Alan Farrier
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Correspondence to Alan Farrier .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Universtiy of Dundee, Dundee, UK

    Matthew Maycock

  2. Royal Holloway University of London, Surrey, Berkshire, UK

    Rosie Meek

  3. Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

    James Woodall

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Farrier, A. (2021). The ‘Dead Zone’ in the Stories of People in Prison. In: Maycock, M., Meek, R., Woodall, J. (eds) Issues and Innovations in Prison Health Research. Palgrave Studies in Prisons and Penology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46401-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46401-1_8

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-46400-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-46401-1

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

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