The Locked up Living Podcast

In this conversation Rob considers the place of emotions across the criminal justice spectrum. Rob Canton is Professor in Community and Criminal Justice at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. Before joining De Montfort, he worked in the Probation Service for some 20 years in a number of different roles. Rob has guested on the podcast before. Rob has contributed to probation development and general penal reform in more than ten different countries, mostly in Europe. He served on the Council of Europe to develop and revise European Rules relating to probation and acted as a Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Justice Select Committee in its Inquiry into the Role of the Probation Service (2010 -11).Rob has written a number of articles and book chapters as well as authoring a number of books. His latest book is Punishment in the Key ideas in Criminology series. He kindly sent us a chapter to read in preparation for  this podcast and its great to have another opportunity to speak with himtoday. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Punishment-Key-Ideas-Criminology-Canton-ebook/dp/B0B455ZJZ3/ref=sr_1_4?qid=1656437431&refinements=p_27%3ARob+Canton&s=books&sr=1-4

This week our podcast conversation may seem a little different. But we are still seeking methods and activities which provide opportunities for stress relief and deveopment. Alexander Oviawe is a former physiologist and founder of a tech start up that used different ways to model physical stress.  During the difficult period of shutting down the start up, he became clinically depressed and developed generalised anxiety disorder.   After receiving help, Alexander became fascinated with heart rate variability, psychophysiology and technology.  He is working with University of East London to explore the use of HRV and emotional regulation. He now leads a company developing web based applications to monitor Heart rate variation (HRV), see the link to the free app below. PsychogenX Explorer is a web application used by practitioners as a client support tool to remotely observe and assess emotional regulation and wellness changes. Along with the Explorer web app, PsychogenX comes with a Client Wellness App; a scientifically-validated wellness app  that turns your client's smartphone into a powerful biofeedback device to help quantify psychophysiological changes. Find a link to the app here https://psychogenx.health/ See two papwers related to the method here. https://www.bacp.co.uk/bacp-journals/private-practice/september-2021/how-the-body-responds-to-racism/ https://psychogenx.medium.com/how-to-use-heart-rate-variability-for-psychotherapy-2e386bb2a0bf   Use this code to get 50% reduction on paid accounts. lockedupliving

We submitted to the Podcast of the Year Awards and have been shortlisted for one category. (Hooray!!) Please can you vote for us. Go to this link, type in The Locked Up Living podcast and follow the link to post for us. https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/vote and you can see all of the podcasts and 15 minute submissions here https://lockedupliving.podbean.com/ This is what we wrote about the podcast; Locked Up Living is on a mission to challenge the silo thinking that pervades macho organisations such as the criminal justice system by covering subjects that are directly relevant but haven’t yet had enough visibility to become influential. We have featured guests tackling subjects with innovative implications for custodial settings (and other toxic organisations); several of our guests would be considered radical thinkers and we’ve covered subjects that forensic practitioners are often frightened to talk or even think about. We are particularly interested in guests whose work shines a spotlight on the challenges to those who live and work in locked environments and ways to overcome the barriers to well-being that these obstacles raise. We are especially interested in emotional literacy and health. Our podcast is popular with those researching or working in prisons and other locked or challenging environments including criminologists, psychologists, psychotherapists and other mental health professionals. This was David and Naomi’s first foray into podcasting. Started as a lockdown spare-time venture, neither has any experience of audio planning and production so we’ve had to develop skills as we go along. Several of our listeners are academics who’ve recommended our podcast to their students and the positive feedback we’ve received has encouraged us to continue beyond lockdown. We are regularly approached by people wanting to appear on the podcast to promote their work. Our weekly podcast was downloaded 14k times during the course of the year.

We submitted to the Podcast of the Year Awards and have been shortlisted for one category. (Hooray!!) Please can you vote for us. Go to this link, type in The Locked Up Living podcast and follow the link to post for us. https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/vote   This is what we wrote about the podcast; Locked Up Living is on a mission to challenge the silo thinking that pervades machoorganisations such as the criminal justice system by covering subjects that are directlyrelevant but haven’t yet had enough visibility to become influential. We have featuredguests tackling subjects with innovative implications for custodial settings (and other toxicorganisations); several of our guests would be considered radical thinkers and we’vecovered subjects that forensic practitioners are often frightened to talk or even think about.We are particularly interested in guests whose work shines a spotlight on the challenges tothose who live and work in locked environments and ways to overcome the barriers to well-being that these obstacles raise. We are especially interested in emotional literacy andhealth. Our podcast is popular with those researching or working in prisons and otherlocked or challenging environments including criminologists, psychologists,psychotherapists and other mental health professionals.This was David and Naomi’s first foray into podcasting. Started as a lockdown spare-timeventure, neither has any experience of audio planning and production so we’ve had todevelop skills as we go along. Several of our listeners are academics who’ve recommendedour podcast to their students and the positive feedback we’ve received has encouraged usto continue beyond lockdown. We are regularly approached by people wanting to appearon the podcast to promote their work.Our weekly podcast was downloaded 14k times during the course of the year.

We submitted to the Podcast of the Year Awards and have been shortlisted for one category. (Hooray!!) Please can you vote for us. Go to this link, type in The Locked Up Living podcast and follow the link to post for us. https://www.britishpodcastawards.com/vote   This is what we wrote about the podcast; Locked Up Living is on a mission to challenge the silo thinking that pervades machoorganisations such as the criminal justice system by covering subjects that are directlyrelevant but haven’t yet had enough visibility to become influential. We have featuredguests tackling subjects with innovative implications for custodial settings (and other toxicorganisations); several of our guests would be considered radical thinkers and we’vecovered subjects that forensic practitioners are often frightened to talk or even think about.We are particularly interested in guests whose work shines a spotlight on the challenges tothose who live and work in locked environments and ways to overcome the barriers to well-being that these obstacles raise. We are especially interested in emotional literacy andhealth. Our podcast is popular with those researching or working in prisons and otherlocked or challenging environments including criminologists, psychologists,psychotherapists and other mental health professionals.This was David and Naomi’s first foray into podcasting. Started as a lockdown spare-timeventure, neither has any experience of audio planning and production so we’ve had todevelop skills as we go along. Several of our listeners are academics who’ve recommendedour podcast to their students and the positive feedback we’ve received has encouraged usto continue beyond lockdown. We are regularly approached by people wanting to appearon the podcast to promote their work.Our weekly podcast was downloaded 14k times during the course of the year.

Dan and Ruth are co-Directors of DWRM Consultants, a community interest company that works with universities to offer a wide range of degree courses to students in prison. Dan has dedicated himself to establishing DWRM Consultants, at the same time as navigating all the challenges of leaving prison. He has led on the creation of a peer mentor support programme which offers education and employment coaching and support for people leaving prison, based on his own understanding of the gaps in provision. From a starting point of no educational attainment, Dan achieved undergraduate and postgraduate degrees while in prison and is now studying for a PhD in criminology.Ruth is an education specialist, lecturer and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and has significant experience of working with people excluded from mainstream education, especially in secure settings.  She is all about supporting meaningful education in prison and on release. She has authored a wide range of academic publications, cited and featured internationally. Considering herself a student as well as a teacher, she is passionate about inclusion and equality.These links will take you to their website where you will see their prospectus and details of post release support.https://www.dwrm.org.uk/what-we-do/university-courses/ https://www.dwrm.org.uk/what-we-do/ttg-support/

Dr Elizabeth Bates is a Principal Lecturer at the University of Cumbria. Her PhD focused on exploring the personality and psychopathological predictors of men’s and women’s partner violence. Her post-doctoral work has focused on exploring the experience of male victims and she has published papers on their experience of physical and psychological abuse, barriers to help-seeking, post-separation abuse and the impact on children of living in an abusive home. Dr Bats is a trustee of the ManKind Initiative a UK charity supporting male victims of domestic violence, and is also Chair of the BPS Male Psychology Section. She is currently organising the first in person conference of the BPS Male Psychology Section which is on 20th and 20th June. Naomi Murphy is a keynote speaker. See the programme here. https://www.bps.org.uk/events/male-psychology-section-conference-2022/programme And this is the link to the ManKind initiative https://www.mankind.org.uk/

Keith Rix is an enormously experienced forensic psychiatrist. In this conversation he shares reflections on his early career choices and how he came to make them. We cover family courts, working inside prisons, being an expert witness and cases with the potential of a death penalty.   Professor Keith Rix, BMedBiol (Hons), MPhil, LLM, MD, FRCPsych, Hon FFFLM, is a consultant forensic psychiatrist. His involvement in the forensic field began in the 1960’s when he lived in hostels in London with ex-offenders and assessed prisoners for hostel admission. He moved to Leeds as senior lecturer in psychiatry in 1983 and became a visiting consultant psychiatrist at HM Prison, Leeds. He established the Leeds Magistrates’ Court Mental Health Assessment and Diversion Scheme and the city’s forensic psychiatry service. He has provided expert evidence to the courts for over thirty years, including evidence on a pro bono basis in capital cases in the Caribbean and Africa, and he is the author of Expert Psychiatric Evidence and lead author of the Royal College of Psychiatrists report Responsibilities of psychiatrists who provide expert opinion to courts and tribunals. He is also the editor of A Handbook for Trainee Psychiatrists and co-author, with his wife Elizabeth Lumsden Rix, of Alcohol Problems. Until recently he was a Chairman of the Fitness to Practise Panel of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service and part-time lecturer in the Department of Law, De Montfort University, Leicester. He is now Visiting Professor of Medical Jurisprudence, Institute of Medicine, University of Chester, and Honorary Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist in the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. In 2015 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians.

Tracing the meanings of military geographies, veterans and the prison industrial complex Professor Dominique Moran is professor of carceral geography Birmingham University and her expertise is in providing a geographical perspective on incarceration.    Dominique is also Chair of the  Carceral geography Working Group of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographies.  She is author of “Carceral Geography: Spaces and Practices of Incarceration and editor of a number of texts on spatial geography and its relation to imprisonment.  She is also widely published in a number of leading geographical journals. Jennifer Turner leads the Crime and Carcerality Research Group in the Institute for Social Sciences at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg. Her research interests concern the relationships between prison and contemporary society, including, most recently, interrogations of the prison-military complex. Jennifer is the author of The Prison Boundary: Between Society and Carceral Space, which interrogates the notion of a hard and fast separation between the inside and outside of prison by presenting a variety of case studies that demonstrate a complex and changeable boundary relationship. She is also the Chair of the Carceral Geography Working Group of the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), which brings together academic and non-academic members interested in spaces of confinement from all over the world. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03091325221080247 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13624806211031248

Emptiness is a feeling we may have all experienced. Some are afflicted deeply and chronically, particularly those who are in prisons and hospitals. Yet it has been little studied so in this conversation Shona talks about her research of the phenomenon of emptiness. Shona qualified as a Clinical Associate in Applied Psychology in Scotland before moving to London to undertake her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at University College London. She is currently in her final 6 months of her Doctorate, completing her thesis and working with men who are detained in the High Security Estate, and men in forensic hospital across North London. She adores her ability to combine clinical and research work, and is particularly passionate about tackling oppressive systems, non-diagnostic approaches to mental health challenges and attempting to use the principles of community psychology and narrative approaches in everything she does. https://wellcomecollection.org/articles/YicucRAAAPf45c2S https://theconversation.com/many-of-us-feel-empty-understanding-what-it-means-is-important-for-improving-our-mental-health-163035