Sunley Prize winners

Sunley Prize 2017

John Sunley Prize winners 2017

The John Sunley Prize winners were announced at the Howard League AGM, on Wednesday 8 November 2017.  From a strong shortlist of 10 entries the competition panel identified the following winners:

Ailsa Bridges, University of Oxford,
The contemporary pains of imprisonment: A study of HMP Grendon

Primary research based on interviews with prisoners to understand how the therapeutic prison regime impacted on them compared with their mainstream prison experience.

Michelle Brown, University of Cambridge,
An exploration of the challenges families experience when a family member is convicted of a sex offence

Primary research based on interviews with family members to explore this under-researched area to understand the issues they face and the support available to them.

Jordan Konell, University of Oxford,
Policing ‘community’: Race and Britain’s community cohesion agenda

Research analysing the relationship between the role for policing in community cohesion, localised approaches to this and its impact on its practices and relationship with BAME communities.

As the field was so strong two other entries were highly commended:

Zarek Khan, University of Cambridge,
Incentives and earned privileges: Exploring prisoner perceptions of staff in HMP Wandsworth

Olivia Tolaini, SOAS, University of London,
‘Double deviancy’: The subjectivities of ‘motherhood’ and ‘criminality’ within the criminal justice system in England and Wales

The prizes were presented by Digby Nelson, CEO of the Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation.

Sunley Prize 2016

John Sunley Prize winners 2016

At the Howard League’s AGM the John Sunley Prize winners were announced. From a strong shortlist of 10 entries the competition panel consisting of academics from the Howard League’s Research Advisory Group identified the following winners: 

• Victor Chu, University of Cambridge, Greying Behind Bars: The Older Male Offender’s Experience of Prison Life and Preparations for Resettlement

This is a single-site qualitative study of older male prisoners in an open prison. It found that the experience of imprisonment for older males is extremely complex and that despite enduring exacerbated prison pains on account of their age, many prisoners survived their sentence, utilising innovative coping strategies. The dissertation also found that while older prisoners were generally positive about the future, many found themselves unprepared for resettlement, in terms of accommodation and employment prospects upon release. Finally, the dissertation made findings on the segregation/integration debate, arguing that a strong case exists for older prisoner units..

• Martha Morey, University of Cambridge, Men at work: The construction of masculine identities through work in prison

This study investigates male prisoner experiences of and attitudes towards different forms of prison work. By questioning why
and what types of work prisoners deem ‘good’ and ‘bad’. A typology of prisoner work masculinities is developed to explain why prisoners might develop contrasting masculinities and attitudes towards work generally and prison work specifically, and how these attitudes shape experiences of incarceration.

• Anna Norton, Manchester Metropolitan University, ‘Spicing up the Subject’ – The recorded experiences of offenders and prison staff on the subject: New Psychoactive Substance use in a North West Prison

A qualitative study drawing on interviews with staff and prisoners to look at the prevalence, impact and response to new psychoactive substances in one prison.

As the field was so strong two other entries were highly commended:

• David Cross, University of Strathclyde, What value can a human rights approach to supervising offenders in the community add to effectiveness in supporting desistance from crime?

• Isotta Rossoni, University of Oxford, Campsfield 29.11.2014: questioning the legitimacy of immigration detention – views from the voluntary sector

The prizes were presented by Mrs Anabel Knight, Chairman of the Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation.

Sunley Prize 2015

The presentations were made by John Rimington, Director of the Bernard Sunley Charitable Foundation at the Howard League AGM on 4 November 2015.

The winners

• Magdalena Tomaszewska, University of Surrey, Alien experience? A qualitative investigation into the experiences of foreign national women in UK prisons – A case study
•  Ben Laws, University of Cambridge, Fronting, masking and emotion release: An exploration of prisoners’ emotional management strategies
• Popy Begum, University of Oxford, Should “Forced Marriage” be criminalised?

Highly Commended

• Natalie Beal, University of Cambridge, Desistance, legitimacy and the potential of prisoner led regime design: Prisoners’ perspectives.

Sunley Prize 2014