Roundtable: Sport and Physical Activity in Prisons: Opportunities and Challenges

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Session

Abstract/Description

This roundtable session brings together a set of brief presentations and collaborative discussions exploring the growing recognition of the value and role of sport and physical activity in our prisons (Meek, 2013). We focus on the ways in which structured and unstructured sport and physical activity programmes and experiences can and do contribute to efforts to promote wellbeing, identity transformation, therapeutic relationships and desistance in our prisons. We explore the unique role that prison sport and recreation staff - and the prison gyms, outdoor spaces and sports facilities that they operate in - play in the day-to-day functioning of our prisons and some of the ways in which sporting and physical activity initiatives, including running, yoga and team sports, provide a unique opportunity for community organisations to support prison staff and those in their care. Lastly, we discuss the role of external partners in this space, including sports groups and academic collaborators, and the roles they play in developing meaningful and impactful sport and physical activity initiatives in our prisons.

Sub Unit

• Area XIV. Roundtables

Chair

• Rosie Meek, Royal Holloway University of London

Discussants

• Matt Maycock, Monash University

• Jennifer Jacobs, Northern Illinois University

• David Gallant, University of Melbourne

• Kalyn McDonough, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Zachary Wahl-Alexander, Northern Illinois University