Research
In this section you can find our latest primary research, produced by our research team.
About our research programme
The Prison Reform Trust’s research programme works to:
- provide prisoners with a chance to explain the prison experience;
- support the prison service’s efforts to improve prisons through independent, external scrutiny; and
- provide evidence-based knowledge to inform policy-makers, government, the voluntary sector, the academic community and the general public.
Current research projects
- Information Technology (IT) in prisons
Aim: to outline current access to digital technology for people in prison, and explore the gains and challenges of providing new technologies.
- Prisoners’ contribution to more effective prison officers
Aim: to promote prisoner involvement in the recruitment, training and development of staff, initially working in women’s prisons.
- Data from Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL) survey
Aim: to use evidence from MQPL data to test hypotheses about prison conditions.
- Building Futures research: Alternatives to institutionalisation
Aim: to support the Building Futures programme, being led by long-term prisoners’ guidance, to explore the impact of spending years in prison, especially on hope, autonomy, a sense of meaning.
Our latest publications
View all- December 2020 No life, no freedom, no future: The experiences of people recalled whilst serving IPP sentences This report explores the experiences of people recalled back to prison whilst serving an IPP sentenc... No life, no freedom, no future: The experiences of people recalled whilst serving IPP sentences
- September 2020 Thinking Differently: Employers’ views on hiring people convicted of sexual offences Thinking Differently, written by Dr Mia Harris, Dr Rachel Tynan and Dr Kimmett Edgar, explores emplo... Thinking Differently: Employers’ views on hiring people convicted of sexual offences
- October 2019 Keeping People Safe in Prison: The Failure of Gateway Communication Systems This joint report by the Prison Reform Trust, INQUEST and The Prison Advice and Care Trust (Pact) ma... Keeping People Safe in Prison: The Failure of Gateway Communication Systems
- August 2019 Prisoners reforming prisons This report is the second published as part of PRT’s active citizenship programme, and focuses on ... Prisoners reforming prisons
Latest news & updates: Research
View all news and updates
A CAPPTIVE snapshot of life under Covid
In this article written for the Prison Service Journal, Dr. Kimmett Edgar, Paula Harriott, Dr. Mia H...
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Professor Hans Toch
PRT staff members were saddened to hear of the death of Hans Toch, whose pioneering work inspired a ...
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Blog: After what prisoners have endured in the pandemic, plans to increase sentences are inexplicable
Writing for the i our Head of Research, Dr Kimmett Edgar outlines the extraordinary conditions that ...
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Trauma of recalled IPP prisoners revealed as population in custody almost triples in five years
New research by the Prison Reform Trust, published today (3 December), reveals the mental anguish fa...
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Better advice and information could improve confidence in hiring people convicted of sexual offences
Over half of employers would feel more confident hiring people with sexual convictions if they had a...
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Dr Ruth Mann
We were very sad to hear that Dr Ruth Mann passed away over the weekend. Ruth has been a friend to P...
Research team
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Dr Kimmett Edgar
Head of Research
Dr Kimmett Edgar is head of research, having previously been senior research officer at the Oxford Centre for Criminological Research. His major work, Prison Violence: the dynamics of conflict, fear a...
