The Transformative Role of Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) For Life-Sentenced Prisoners Returning to the Outside

• In Event: Prison Working Group: Rethinking punishment: Prison releases and alternatives to imprisonment

Abstract

This presentation explores the release of men serving mandatory life sentences in England and Wales through an empirical short-longitudinal study. To date, the majority of research on ‘life after life imprisonment’ has been conducted in the United States, where the processes and experiences of release are distinctly different from how lifers experience it in England and Wales. For example, in many US states, individuals released from life sentences have limited or no opportunities to experience temporary release from custody prior to re-entry. By contrast, most lifers in England and Wales progress through the system to the lowest security level in the prison estate where they can access opportunities to leave the prison for short periods of time on Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL).
Beyond acclimation to technology and spaces, this presentation reports how temporary releases enabled people to get mentally ready for their release, shifting their mindset from ‘prisoner’ to ‘community member’ prior to their eventual release. These men experienced temporary releases as a small ‘taste of freedom’, through which they were able to ‘rehearse’ their release. Practicing for their release was related to both a rehearsal of selfhood, and a rehearsal of freedom. Gradual re-entry into the community, therefore, was seen to mediate the sense that release itself was experienced as ‘chaotic’ and overwhelming, instead minimising any potential ‘exit shock’. This presentation will demonstrate the important and transformative role that ROTLs play (beyond simply reducing recidivism) in preparing those leaving prison for their release, situating this discussion within a political landscape where transition to open prisons and the use of temporary releases has drastically reduced in recent years.

Author

• Ailie Rennie, University of Cambridge