The University of Westminster’s Convict Criminology at Westminster initiative celebrated the graduation of prisoners and prison staff from the Criminology BA course at HMP Pentonville Prison on 14 April.
The programme, titled the Making Links project, was developed in 2016 by Dr Andreas Aresti, Senior Lecturer in Criminology and Dr Sacha Darke, Reader in Criminology, in partnership with Jose Aguiar, Prison Educator at HMP Pentonville. The project runs the Criminology module at Pentonville, allowing prisoners and prison staff to achieve a nationally recognised qualification while breaking down stigma and social barriers.
The 11-week course runs twice annually, and ten inside students have celebrated their graduation on this occasion. All received 20 credits and a Level 3 or undergraduate foundation degree level certificate. To celebrate these outstanding achievements, the loved ones of the inside learners were also able to take part in the graduation ceremony at HMP Pentonville.
The ceremony began with a welcome speech by Jose Aguiar; followed by a speech from Professor Dibyesh Anand, Head of School at the Westminster School for Social Sciences, who highlighted the importance of the partnership between HMP Pentonville and the University. Speeches were held by two inside students, Mr Pierre, and Ms Mickle, a Prison Officer at Pentonville, who described their experience on the course, which included allowing officers to discuss controversial subjects with prisoners. Nearing the end of the ceremony, Dr Aresti and Dr Darke spoke about the current cohort of learners on the course, as well as reflecting more broadly on the progress of the project since its establishment.
Since 2014 Dr Aresti and Dr Darke have initiated four schemes for supporting current prisoners through higher education, including an academic mentoring scheme, and prison-based education programmes at HMP Pentonville, HMP Grendon and HMP Coldingley. They have supported over 200 inmates and prison staff since they brought Convict Criminology to Westminster. Each of the prison-based programmes involve Westminster Criminology students supporting prisoners who are working towards Social Science degrees.
The Grendon and Coldingley programmes are taught at Levels 6 (BA) and 7 (MA degree level). These programmes were validated on the Global Criminology MA course in 2022, and are delivered once a month for eight months a year. The Pentonville programme was validated as a Criminology BA module in 2018, and was also cited as an example of good practice in the Ministry of Justice’s (2016) Coates Review on prison education. The Grendon and Coldingley programmes are regularly attended by the Prisoner Policy Network at the Prison Reform Trust, an independent charity in the UK.
Talking about the programme, Dr Darke said: “This was our strongest cohort of inside learners to date. Convict Criminology at Westminster goes from strength to strength. We hope to see some of the students on Westminster's Foundation and Undergraduate Criminology degree programmes in the Autumn.”
Ella Walsh, Criminology MA student, said: “I first took part in the Pentonville project in 2019 and have continued working on all the prison projects since. These projects have provided the most unique opportunity to consolidate and expand my knowledge. The majority of Criminology students are not exposed to learning environments beyond the lecture theatre. Reliance on textbook learning upholds existing stigma towards people in prisons. These projects provide a space to break down that stigma. This is fundamental for re-informing the discipline and shaping policy in the future.”
In addition, Dr Aresti and Dr Darke convened the Convict Criminology Research Group at Westminster in 2022. It currently includes one prison officer from HMP Pentonville and three prison-based or former-prisoner PhD students, who were first taught at HMP Coldingley. One former Coldingley and one former HMP Grendon resident have also accepted places to start at the Global Criminology MA programme in September 2023, with Dr Darke as the Course Leader.
The Convict Criminology at Westminster group has initiated or joined several international prison project collaborations, including with universities in Milan, Paris, Madrid, and Bologna. Thanks to the programme, Westminster also signed Memorandums of Understanding with the University of Buenos Aires, the University of São Paulo, and is currently exploring further partnership with the State University of Maranhão.
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