Returning to the UK after a prison sentence overseas: perspectives on resettlement and desistance

• In Event: PWG - Reintegration: Perceptions, preparedness, and post-release outcomes

Abstract

Many studies have highlighted the challenges that a prison sentence presents to processes of resettlement and desistance from crime but comparatively little is known about how imprisonment in a foreign country affects these processes. This paper reports on emerging findings from a unique mixed-method study of life in the UK following a period of imprisonment abroad. A collaboration between the University of Cambridge and the charity, Prisoners Abroad, the study aims to understand experiences of returning to the UK after an overseas prison sentence including barriers and facilitators to resettlement and desistance. Drawing on data from a cross-sectional online survey and follow-up interviews with British citizens formerly imprisoned overseas the paper describes, how intersecting identities, such as ethnicity, nationality and gender, shape the experiences and pathways both towards and away from crime on return to the UK. It reflects on the role of support from Prisoners Abroad, family relationships, community ties, encounters with authorities and structural barriers to resettlement with a view to informing critical debates on desistance from crime. 

Authors

• Angelique Mulholland, University of Cambridge

• Caroline Lanskey, University of Cambridge