Philosophical Conversation With Sex Offenders: How Education Can Develop the Self

• In Event: Beyond the Label Offender: Prisoners' Reflections About Prison Programs

Abstract

In the UK sex offenders are often held in vulnerable prisoner units (VPU) away from the mainstream population. Research has demonstrated that the stigma of the label of ‘sex offender’ results in a particular level of social exclusion and feelings of rejection among this community. This research explores the relevance of providing a forum for philosophical conversation in an educational capacity in such an environment. In post-participation interviews prisoners discussed the sense of meaning they took from the course. For many, the philosophy class provided opportunity to be a person, a learner and co-inquirer within a community that went beyond their label of ‘offender’. For others, discussion of questions around the nature of identity, the ‘good life’ and the structure of society lead to self-reflection and, for a few, self-realisation. This papers outlines the ways in which the course achieved this and importance of providing a space for prisoners to discuss questions of a philosophical nature in an open, non-adversarial community of inquiry.

Author

• Kirstine Szifris, Manchester Metropolitan University / University of Cambridge