Susy Menis

Policy at the mercy of fear: Déjà vu and the open prisons

Absconds from prison are at a historic low. The prison system in England and Wales does not offer an ‘open prison’ sentence, but individuals may be transferred to one of the 12 open prisons as part of their preparation for release. Since its inception, the open prison has been at the mercy of capricious policy. This tension is still apparent today. Events in 2022 led to the Justice Secretary imposing stricter transfer criteria; since then, the policy has been abandoned.

Read my piece in History&Policy.

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(Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021). This book presents a revisionist prison history which brings to the forefront the relationship between gender and policy. It examines women’s prisons in England

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Women Prisons, History and Invisibility

Historical criminology research on prisons in England comes across as genderless. Yet, these histories reflect the story of male prisons – not least because there have been many historical records to