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Peer Support and Individuals with Sexual Convictions: Complementing Traditional Rehabilitation Strategies

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Sexual Crime and the Experience of Imprisonment

Part of the book series: Sexual Crime ((SEXCR))

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Abstract

This chapter reports on recent research which explored the impact of incarcerated individuals with sexual convictions upholding meaningful roles while serving time. These roles took the form of voluntary prison-based peer-support positions. Peer support, as a general ‘help resource’, is underscored by the principles of mutual reciprocity, empathy, and shared problem solving. Although this resource has existed in prisons for decades, research focusing explicitly on those who uphold peer-support roles is very scarce. The research being discussed here focuses on 15 peer-support role holders in one sexual offender treatment prison. The aim was to cultivate insight into the dynamics of such roles and how they might alter experiences for those serving time in a sexual offender treatment establishment. An interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was performed on all 15 of the participants’ semi-structured interview transcripts. This revealed many personal and experiential benefits of peer support and the importance of meaning-making in prison. However, the analysis also revealed specific benefits of peer support for individuals with sexual convictions, such as the chance to earn self-forgiveness and consequently move away from harmful labels. There were also some important implications which suggested peer-support schemes may be best embedded in prison environments that are rehabilitative and conducive of personal change.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

    Christian Perrin

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  1. Christian Perrin
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Correspondence to Christian Perrin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

    Nicholas Blagden

  2. Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

    Belinda Winder

  3. HMP Whatton, Nottingham, UK

    Kerensa Hocken

  4. Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

    Rebecca Lievesley

  5. Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

    Phil Banyard

  6. Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK

    Helen Elliott

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Perrin, C. (2019). Peer Support and Individuals with Sexual Convictions: Complementing Traditional Rehabilitation Strategies. In: Blagden, N., Winder, B., Hocken, K., Lievesley, R., Banyard, P., Elliott, H. (eds) Sexual Crime and the Experience of Imprisonment. Sexual Crime. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04930-0_6

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