What really matters in prison: Exploring the concept of climate and resocialisation across borders

• Applicants: Professorin Dr. Kirstin Drenkhahn; Professor Dr. Frank Neubacher
• Subject Area: Criminology
• Term: since 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 463336279

International prison research increasingly deems prison climate to be an important, if not the key parameter of prison life. A positive social climate evidentially raises the probability of successful treatment efforts, it reduces violence and re-offending and contributes to the overall well-being of prisoners and staff. During the past two decades, this kind of research has been much influenced and advanced by Alison Liebling and her Prisons Research Centre at the University of Cambridge. She widened the definition of social climate to include the dimensions of respect, humanity, staff-prisoner relationships, trust, support, fairness, order, safety, well-being, personal development, family contact, decency, power, and prisoners’ social life. For that purpose, she has developed a comprehensive methodological approach known as “Measuring the Quality of Prison Life (MQPL)”. This includes a broad set of tools such as interviews, group discussions, participant observations and surveys with prisoners and staff from different levels of the hierarchy.Over the last years, the principal investigators Drenkhahn (Berlin) and Neubacher (Cologne) have translated the prisoner and staff questionnaires into German together with Ineke Pruin (Bern) and supported by their colleagues from Cambridge. They have also successfully tested the methodological research programme in a prison setting. The research project aims at establishing prison climate research in Germany and Switzerland. The research is supposed to take place in two prisons in Germany and one Swiss prison. It will provide valuable information on the performance of the prisons concerning the various dimensions of prison climate. Hereby, the management of the participating prisons will have concrete opportunities to learn more about their prisons, to make changes and to induce improvements for the sake of both prisoners and staff. From a scientific point of view, it is expected that next to the advancement of prison research instruments the question will be answered whether and inasmuch the concept of prison climate research can be transferred across language and state borders to states of different legislation and penal tradition. Thus, the project will make a major contribution to the growing field of comparative penology in Europe.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Switzerland
• Partner Organisation: Schweizerischer Nationalfonds (SNF)
• Cooperation Partner: Professorin Dr. Ineke Regina Pruin