Imagining More than Just a Prisoner: The Work of Prisoners’ Penfriends

Abstract

Prisoners Penfriends is a small charitable organisation that facilitates and supervises letter-­writing between prisoners and trained volunteers. In the light of current resource pressures on the prison system and a recent rise in prisoner suicides, it is timely to examine whether this befriending project may be able to contribute to the well-­being and rehabilitation of prisoners. This research project set out to gather and analyse the views of prisoners and volunteers about the work of Prisoners’ Penfriends, particularly its impact on prisoners’ well-­being and on their feelings about life after release from prison. The views were gathered through telephone interviews (volunteers) and through questionnaires (prisoners and volunteers).

Keywords: prisoner suicides, Prisoners Penfriends, befriending project