Groundbreaking new series show realities of prison life

Law students at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) will learn about life in the prison system from the inside in a new series of online lectures.

Former prisoner Michael Campbell, who now works as a consultant to the criminal justice system, has teamed up with DMU law academics Gavin Dingwall and Tim Hillier for the new series.

Together they examine key tenets of the law school’s penology module, which examines sentencing policy and issues surrounding imprisonment, punishment, reform and restorative justice.

Mr Campbell visited Leicester Castle, which was once home to the city's crown, magistrates' and civil courts to film the series.

The films show exactly what happens when a prisoner is first sentenced, moving from the dock to the cells below and explaining the process.

They also cover the issue of self-harm among the prison population. Figures released by the Ministry of Justice showed that self-harm by prisoners in England and Wales was up 14% on last year, or one incident every eight minutes.  

Michael, who works with 20 prisons across the UK, said: “I use my time inside prisons throughout the country to try and instil some decency and humanity into the way prisoners are treated, especially throughout the first 2-3 months, to try and reduce the incidence of self-harm.

“I take my own experience and the experience of prisoners in the prisons I visit and try to match them together.”
 
RELATED NEWS:
* Watch the introductory video with Michael Campbell
* Watch the online discussion on prison life
* Interested in studying law? Sign up for our DMU Open Day

Professor Dingwall said: “We are doing something that is both innovative and important here: challenging our students and others with a broad interest in how we respond to crime, asking them to think through their assumptions and instinctive responses. It is inspiring to work with those who share this aspiration.”

The first videos in the series are available to watch here. The next three videos in the series will be online by 30 November and can be viewed by the general public as well as a teaching aid for law students.