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Grendon Tales
~ Ursula Smartt
Foreword by
Lord Avebury
Pages
232
Paperback
Published
30/04/2001
ISBN-10:
1872870961
ISBN-13:
9781872870960
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Grendon Tales
Stories from a Therapeutic Community
For anyone trying to understand what ‘drives’ some people to commit serious, heinous and sometimes unspeakable crimes – and what is achievable through therapy - the first-hand ‘tales’ in this book merit close study. For over forty years Grendon Prison with its ‘Therapuetic Communities’ of high security ‘residents’ has remained unique among Britain’s prisons.
In 2000 researcher Ursula Smartt was given extensive access to interview residents and prison staff – governors, prison officers, therapists and probation officers – and to observe their day-to-day routines. The result is Grendon Tales, a perceptive, insightful and at times shocking account of life inside a unique and world famous establishment. Grendon houses many dangerous, disturbed and disruptive criminals (ranging from armed robbers to paedophiles, to rapists and murderers). For many of them, it is ‘the last chance saloon’ – a final opportunity to alter their thinking patterns and behaviour and maybe to convince the authorities that their security category should be downgraded with a view to future safe release back into the community.
Even now, the approach remains unique - as can be seen from comparisons with Europe and a new therapeutic regime due to start in 2001 at Britain’s newest privately managed prison, HMP Dovegate. At times the author found the experience overwhelming, but ultimately it is her captivating style, eye for detail and sensitivity to victims of crime which allow her to avoid the sensational and to write powerfully about matters which might otherwise prove too raw and distressing.
‘An academic Silence of the Lambs’
Reviews
'As readable as a novel... I could not put it down until finished'
The Magistrate
'A breathless personal slide through her year talking to some of the country's most difficult prisoners':
Frances Crook, Community Care.
'The book is both comprehensive and thourough... This is not a book to engage with lightly, or to browse through. It needs to be read completely, with a degree of commitment, for it is, ultimately, encouraging and optimistic... I can firmly endorse Ursula Smartt's work':
John Broughton, It's Wandsworth.
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