Criminal Exploitation and Modern Slavery As Drug-Related Systemic Harms in the UK His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS)

• In Event: PWG - Prison privatisation and carceral restructuring

Abstract

The paper builds on research from a British Academy-sponsored project examining criminal exploitation associated with drug markets. The article integrates themes of drug policy reform and prison abolition to critique systemic harm and advocates for transformative solutions. Against the backdrop of a UK prison crisis characterised by overcrowding, violent exploitation, and the proliferation of drug markets within and beyond prison walls, it challenges punitive paradigms, highlighting their failure to achieve moral or rehabilitative objectives. Drawing on critical realism, discourse ethics and realist governance, the article emphasises the importance of transparency and ethical scrutiny between stakeholders in examining the structural power dynamics that sustain criminal prison exploitation. It proposes a socially just and harm-reductive framework through action research and reflective practice, offering insights into pathways for meaningful reform.

Author

• Paul Andell, University of Suffolk