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Transformative Rehabilitation: Exploring Prisoners’ Experiences of the Community Based Health and First Aid Programme in Ireland

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Abstract

Using an assisted desistance framework, this paper explores the lived experiences of 11 volunteers on the Community Based Health and First Aid programme, which operates in 14 prisons across Ireland and aims to enhance community health, hygiene awareness and first aid knowledge among prisoners through peer-to-peer education. The findings suggest that participation fostered a sense of agency among volunteers and facilitated the development of a new non-criminal self, centred on the ‘wounded healer’ identity. Additionally, participation appeared to deepen volunteers’ pro-social bonds with other prisoners, staff and families. The contribution of these findings to knowledge about desistance and desistance-focused practice is considered.

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Notes

  1. A P19 is a disciplinary report prepared by a prison officer for the prison governor when a prisoner is alleged to have breached the prison rules.

  2. The Community Return Scheme is a joint initiative of the Irish Prison Service and the Irish Probation Service. Under this scheme, prisoners complete unpaid work in the community as a condition of early release.

  3. A reference to Martin Cahill, a famous Irish criminal nicknamed “the General”

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the support of Graham Betts-Symonds who acted as a student mentor for researchers on the project, Carrie McGowan who provided additional support, Lydia O’Halloran who was instrumental in establishing the research project, and the Irish Prison Service Research Office for facilitating the research. We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to the CBHFA volunteers who were willing to share their experiences of the programme with the researchers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UCD Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, UCD Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland

    Róisín O’Sullivan, Wayne Hart & Deirdre Healy

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  1. Róisín O’Sullivan
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  2. Wayne Hart
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  3. Deirdre Healy
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Correspondence to Deirdre Healy.

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O’Sullivan, R., Hart, W. & Healy, D. Transformative Rehabilitation: Exploring Prisoners’ Experiences of the Community Based Health and First Aid Programme in Ireland. Eur J Crim Policy Res 26, 63–81 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10610-018-9396-z

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