Turning gender inside out: delivering higher education in women’s carceral spaces

This article is a critical reflection of the role of gender in the delivery of a higher education course based on the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Programme. Related concepts such as hegemonic masculinity, heteronormativity, and intersectionality are discussed within the prison education setting. This reflection primarily draws on critical incidents from the experiences of the first three authors facilitating a higher education course in a women’s prison in England. One major reflection is that learning in a group of ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ students, all self-identified women, who vary along the dimensions of age, class, ethnicity, nationality and sexual expression, presented unique dynamics. This included working with both collectiveness and difference, gender-aligned expectations about behaviour, and experiences of control, criminal justice and higher education. Additionally, all four authors' experiences of delivering various higher education courses under different prison-education partnership models in both men and women’s prisons allows for comparison and reflection on the institutional reproduction of gender norms. These reflections point to the conclusion that, despite the strong presence of intersectional divisions, gender can become a uniting force when working with an all-women student group, fostering critical thinking and engagement with challenging structural issues. However further reflection considers that being gender-conscious in the classroom should not be limited to all-women student cohorts, as this is exactly what may enable facilitators to tackle some of the issues produced by hegemonic masculinity in a mixed prison classroom

GABA, glutamate and neural activity: a systematic review with meta-analysis of multimodal ¹H-MRS-fMRI studies

Multimodal neuroimaging studies combining proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( H-MRS) to quantify GABA and/or glutamate concentrations and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity non-invasively have advanced understanding of how neurochemistry and neurophysiology may be related at a macroscopic level. The present study aimed to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of available studies examining the relationship between H-MRS glutamate and/or GABA levels and task-related fMRI signal in the healthy brain. Ovid (Medline, Embase, and PsycINFO) and Pubmed databases were systematically searched to identify articles published until December 2019. The primary outcome of interest was the association between resting levels of glutamate or GABA and task-related fMRI. Fifty-five papers were identified for inclusion in the systematic review. A further 22 studies were entered into four separate meta-analyses. These meta-analyses found evidence of significant negative associations between local GABA levels and (a) fMRI activation to visual tasks in the occipital lobe, and (b) activation to emotion processing in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC)/anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). However, there was no significant association between mPFC/ACC glutamate levels and fMRI activation to cognitive control tasks or to emotional processing, with the relationship to emotion processing related neural activity narrowly missing significance. Moreover, our systematic review also found converging evidence of negative associations between GABA levels and local brain activity, and positive associations between glutamate levels and distal brain activity, outside of the H-MRS sampling region. Albeit less consistently, additional relationships between GABA levels and distal brain activity and between glutamate levels and local brain activity were found. It remains unclear if the absence of effects for other brain regions and other cognitive-emotional domains reflects study heterogeneity or potential confounding effects of age, sex, or other unknown factors. Advances in H-MRS methodology as well as in the integration of H-MRS readouts with other imaging modalities for indexing neural activity hold great potential to reveal key aspects of the pathophysiology of mental health disorders involving aberrant interactions between neurochemistry and neurophysiology such as schizophrenia. 1 1 1 1

The Open Academy: An Exploration of a Prison-Based Learning Culture

This mixed-methods study is an exploration of both the structured and structuring aspects of ‘learning culture’ theory (Hodkinson et al., 2008; James and Biesta, 2007) as experienced within a unique prison-based educational environment. Attending to differing scales of focus, the thesis explores numerous interlocking personal, social and cultural features of cultures of learning within that site and the individuals operating within it. The research was conducted in HMP Swaleside, England, with a particular focus on the Open Academy; a unique prisoner-led, wing-based learning space tailored towards further and higher education mediated through distance learning. In order to situate this site within the prison-wide cultural features, a quantitative and qualitative survey was conducted with prisoners and staff across the prison (prisoner n=296, staff n=59). Additionally, in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 prison residents (including but not limited to Open Academy students and educational ‘peer mentors’) and two members of staff. Observational data were also collected through ethnographically-led methods. These data were coded and analysed thematically. The overall results suggest that the practices operating within the learning culture of the Open Academy created a supportive and potentially transformative space for many at varying points in their educational trajectories, either as established distance learners or as emergent students. Within this site, many cultural features operated in synergy; they complemented and reinforced each other. However, outside of this space, the learning culture of the wider prison was dominated by conflict rather than convergence. Enduring hierarchies of power and control, institutional pressures, and fundamental tenets of the fields of ‘prison’ and ‘education’, led to challenging cultural divisions which ultimately threatened the initiative. The study has implications for the development, and measures of success, of educational innovations in prison

Involve, Improve, Inspire: Evaluation of a Learner Voice programme piloted in eight prisons to develop rehabilitative cultures

This report is based on a study that was part of a 12 month pilot, using action research, training sessions and on-going support to front line staff in eight prisons. The project aimed to facilitate the growth of a ‘rehabilitative culture’ by training staff about Learner Voice principles and activities.This study was the first to attempt to define, measure and improve the learning culture of prisons. Learning Culture was defined by six conceptual dimensions: Empowering, Aspirational, Safe, Engaging/Relevant, Inclusive and Changing Lives. This study used a multiple baseline research design and qualitative and quantitative tools to evaluate the effectiveness of individual projects in cultivating a learning culture. Tools included a baseline and follow up questionnaire for staff and prisoners, telephone interviews and observations from all sessions, feedback from training participants and focus groups with prisoner participants. The overall results for the prisons placed the eight prisons into three broad clusters; ‘Visionaries & Enthusiasts’, ‘Mainstream Adopters’ and ‘Resisters’. Factors which influenced the resultant cluster for a prison site included levels of staff involvement and engagement, levels of prisoner involvement and engagement and the effectiveness communication systems

COVID-19 and the prison population

This paper provides an overview of the experience and impact in prisons of the pandemic during its first year (March 2020 to March 2021). This focus was chosen due to particular concerns about the impact of the pandemic on this population, which is large, ethnically diverse and ageing, with poorer health than the general population. During the pandemic, the prison population experienced increased risk of transmission. There were concerns that prisons could become potential high-risk settings for outbreaks and amplifiers of infection, including variants of concern, in the community. In March 2020, prison systems across the UK were quick to introduce a full lockdown, with control measures remaining largely in place for the first year. This rapidly imposed and stringent regime was an important measure for rigorous infection control at the outset of the pandemic and this likely reduced infections and saved lives. Yet, even with these highly restrictive control measures, prisoners still experienced higher cases and mortality rates than the wider population. By April 2021 – a full year after England announced its first national lockdown – the prison regime had yet to fully unlock. Prisoners remained isolated in cells for an average of 22.5 hours per day, with meaningful activities mostly suspended, along with family visits. Delivering education remained a challenge and concerns around social distancing and interpersonal mixing raised questions about how to return to classroom-based education. At this point, the Ministry of Justice suggested that when prisons could safely move to less restrictive regimes, visits from family members could recommence. This would depend on community infection levels. The impact of the pandemic on prisoners could have been reduced through a greater focus on reducing the size of the prison population (in other words, through the early release scheme) and by prioritising prisoners and staff for early COVID-19 vaccination. In September 2021, 18 months on from the start the pandemic, the landscape in prisons has evolved. Vaccination and asymptomatic testing have been rolled out in line with community guidance and many rehabilitation programmes have been reinstated. Prisons are starting to return to a normal regime, although always aware that the risk of transmission and possible outbreaks remains high. This working paper demonstrates the complexities of mitigating the pandemic risk in prisons and reveals how the pandemic amplified existing vulnerabilities and inequalities in prisons, as it did with the wider population. Looking to the future, it highlights broad areas requiring attention and robust national funding, including: • restoring and recovering services • focusing on digital innovations in prison • strengthening inter-agency working • a greater focus on the wider determinants of health and equity

UNITY: A low-field magnetic resonance neuroimaging initiative to characterize neurodevelopment in low and middle-income settings

Measures of physical growth, such as weight and height have long been the predominant outcomes for monitoring child health and evaluating interventional outcomes in public health studies, including those that may impact neurodevelopment. While physical growth generally reflects overall health and nutritional status, it lacks sensitivity and specificity to brain growth and developing cognitive skills and abilities. Psychometric tools, e.g., the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, may afford more direct assessment of cognitive development but they require language translation, cultural adaptation, and population norming. Further, they are not always reliable predictors of future outcomes when assessed within the first 12-18 months of a child’s life. Neuroimaging may provide more objective, sensitive, and predictive measures of neurodevelopment but tools such as magnetic resonance (MR) imaging are not readily available in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs). MRI systems that operate at lower magnetic fields (< 100mT) may offer increased accessibility, but their use for global health studies remains nascent. The UNITY project is envisaged as a global partnership to advance neuroimaging in global health studies. Here we describe the UNITY project, its goals, methods, operating procedures, and expected outcomes in characterizing neurodevelopment in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia