2013 - Keele University
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Research Institute for Social Sciences

Criminologists to research mentoring in prisons and the community

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Posted on 02 January 2013

A team of criminologists from Keele has been awarded £34,000 to conduct research into a ground breaking project on mentoring for women in prison or Youth Offending Institutes and community settings.  They are: Professor Anne Worrall, Dr Mary Corcoran (pictured) and Dr Julie Trebilcock with Ms Gillian Buck. 

Gill Buck's doctoral research on peer mentoring by former prisoners is supervised by Mary Corcoran and Professor Ronnie Lippens.   All are members of the Research Institute for Social Sciences.

The 'Youth in Focus – Sisters Project', which is operated by the charity, Spurgeons, is funded by the Big Lottery.  The project aims to recruit and develop a network of mentors who will befriend, motivate and support young women in custody and through their transition to release and afterwards.   The research, which will last for 22 months, will be conducted in several locations including a Youth Offending Institute and prison for adult women in the West Midlands. The researchers will investigate all aspects of the project including the recruitment and retention of mentors and mentees, the characteristics of mentoring relationships and outcomes for altering the circumstances of women being mentored.

The Keele team brings to the project combined expertise on women in the criminal justice system, the development of mentoring in criminal justice settings, partnerships between voluntary sector and statutory agencies and work with vulnerable people in custody.

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