Prisoner Relationships with Voluntary Sector Practitioners

Recent scholarship has indicated that the voluntary sector is becoming increasingly important in marketised penal service delivery. However, market policy reforms are thought to pose risks to distinctive voluntary sector work with prisoners. Although commentators have suggested that the voluntary sector and its staff make distinctive contributions to prisoners, these have long been poorly understood. This article uses original interview data to demonstrate that voluntary sector practitioners can offer prisoners distinctive opportunities and relational experiences. Prisoner relationships with voluntary sector practitioners can be differentiated from those with education and custodial staff. Furthermore, these relationships may have distinctively enduring effects.