(Un)Bound: using reading programmes to promote desistance and rehabilitation in Welsh prisoners.

• In Event: Enhancing Student Support and Experiential Learning in Criminology Education

Abstract

The UK Home Office (2022) describes the poor state of education inside British prisons. They identify several key areas of concern, including a lack of effective teaching, a lack of effective opportunities for prisoner progression with regards to their education, a failure by senior prison management to plan for the training or to deliver teacher training to staff, and a failure to teach those who enter the prisons, and are illiterate, to read. The report highlights that the responsibility of teaching prisoners who cannot read was often passed onto third-sector charities. This report also highlights that around 52% of the prison population have a functional reading age of around the average 11-year-old (between entry levels 1 and 3), and an additional 30% of prisoners are assessed as having a Specific Education Needs and/or Learning Disability (SEND). Prisons have shifted away from providing education courses aimed at promoting entry-level literacy courses for those who struggle with reading, in place of higher-level courses (level 1 and above). Courses that, by level and accessibility, were unsuitable for over half of their population. The Welsh Government (2024) and Home Office (2022) highlight that educating prisoners improves employability, which is a major factor in reducing reoffending (by around 9%). The current reoffending rate for people leaving prison stands at around 42%, which costs the UK economy around £15 billion per year.

This individual paper will discuss the relationship between education and literacy in promoting desistance and rehabilitation in prison leavers. This paper presents findings from a hermeneutic phenomenological exploration of the lived experiences of third-sector workers delivering education and reading programmes inside of Welsh (British) prisons. This paper provides reform recommendations to policymakers, education practitioners, researchers, and the organisations responsible for delivering education inside of prisons.

Author

• Daniel Williams, Cardiff Metropolitan University