Aligning with 2003 Council of Europe recommendations, the Irish Prison Service (IPS) Psychology Service and the Probation Service developed a new strategy for the management of people serving life sentences in Ireland, applicable to those sentenced after 01/04/2017. This human rights-based strategy involves early multidisciplinary assessment, engagement, and sentence planning, rather than delaying intervention until the first Parole Board review. This is vital in the context of the Parole Act 2019, which moved the first Parole Board review from year seven to year 12.
This presentation will discuss PhD research, which, using quantitative and qualitative methods, explored the management of men serving life sentences in Ireland, with particular focus on the new strategy. Using the IPS Prisoner Information Management System, data was collected from the files of 352 men serving life sentences in Ireland. This included demographic data, offence data, and the following data by sentence stage: disciplinary reports, visits, letters, telephone calls. The aim was to identify key strengths, needs, and risks that would guide priorities at different sentence stages (early=0-7 years, middle=7-14 years, late=14-21 years, above average=21+ years). Interviews were also conducted with 13 men serving life sentences at different sentence stages. The aim was to explore the experiences of those sentenced both before and after the implementation of the strategy on 01/04/2017.
Findings to date will be discussed. Together with human rights standards, this research will meaningfully inform life sentence policy, procedure, and practice in in Ireland, advocating a more compassionate and humane approach to sentence management.
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Anna Flynn
PhD Student, University of Limerick, Irish Prison Service, Ireland
Anna Flynn is a PhD Student in the School of Law, University of Limerick (UL) and the Psychology Service, Irish Prison Service (IPS). She is supervised by Dr Eimear Spain and Dr Susan Leahy (Senior Lecturers in Law, UL), and Dr Emma Regan (Clinical Psychologist, Head of Psychology Service, IPS). Her research explores the management of people serving life sentences in Ireland, with particular focus on a new strategy developed by the IPS Psychology Service and the Probation Service.
Anna has a BA in Psychology from Maynooth University and an MA in Criminology from University College Cork. Anna has also completed a Policy & Advocacy Internship with the Irish Penal Reform Trust and has worked as a Research Assistant with the University of Limerick and the Irish Prison Service.