Reach and Relevance of Prison Research

  • The University of Western Australia
     Australia

Abstract

In this contribution I reflect on the changes in the penal landscape and how they impact on prison research. I do this from my experiences as a prison researcher in a variety of roles, in both Europe and Australia. The growing dominance of managerialism has impacted on both corrective services and universities, in ways that have changed the relationship between current prison practices and academically oriented research. Therefore, academics have to question how their contemporary prison research can bridge the emerging gap: how they can not only produce research that adheres to the roots of criminology and provides a base for a rational penal policy, but also how they can develop strategies to get recognition of and funding for this broader contextual work which, although it might not produce results that are immediately identifiable, can be of relevance in indirect ways and in the longer term.
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Published: 2015-04-01
Pages:4 to 17
Section:Articles
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How to Cite
Tubex, H. (2015) “Reach and Relevance of Prison Research”, International Journal for Crime, Justice and Social Democracy, 4(1), pp. 4-17. doi: 10.5204/ijcjsd.v4i1.200.

Author Biography

The University of Western Australia
 Australia

Hilde Tubex is Associate Professor and Deputy Head of School, Research at the Law School of the University of Western Australia. Her areas of expertise are comparative criminology and penal policy, Indigenous peoples and the criminal justice system. She received an ARC Future Fellowship studying the difference in imprisonment rates within Australia, with a focus on Indigenous overrepresentation. She is currently working on a Criminology Research Grant to develop effective throughcare for Indigenous offenders.