Browsing by Author "Collett, Nicola"

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    Accounting for the gendered nature of ‘collateral consequences’ of a criminal record
    (Routledge, 2022-10-25) Collett, Nicola
    This chapter will provide an original contribution to our understanding of women’s experience of criminal justice by critically discussing the lifelong harm of attaining a criminal record. Whilst these so-called ‘collateral consequences’ of a criminal record are receiving increased attention this is still an under-discussed and under-researched issue in European jurisdictions, particularly in England and Wales. Furthermore, the gendered nature of such consequences has, until now, not been explored. 1 The chapter will first provide a summary of how a criminal record can create additional barriers for women who have had interactions with the criminal justice system (CJS). Secondly, in light of these barriers, the chapter will critically examine how criminal record practices systematically reproduce inequality and exacerbate the marginalisation of women. Finally, it will highlight how disclosure can be particularly harmful to women who, at the time of their interaction with the CJS, were experiencing other harmful events such as abuse, exploitation or neglect. This chapter is a timely addition as it lays the foundations for a critical conversation on the importance of gender when exploring the nuances of criminal record experiences, enriching and developing the field as it continues to grow.
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    Criminal Records and Life Chances: How to facilitate ‘hope’ for people with convictions?
    (2022-12-06) Collett, Nicola
    In this event we will be joined by Nicola Collett and Justin Williams, who will discuss the theme ‘hope’ as it relates to criminal records and life chances. It is widely recognised that a criminal record can be a barrier for accessing a wide range of opportunities and services including employment, housing, insurance and international travel. This can be through formal legislation and policy, or through more informal stigma and discrimination. Experiencing exclusion and/or discrimination can have affective implications for an individual, and lead to self-exclusion from legitimate opportunities. Reflecting on this today’s guests will ask ‘who is responsible for facilitating hope?’ and discuss how this might look like drawing on their PhD research. To begin the session Nicola will provide a brief overview of criminal record disclosure policy/practice in England and Wales. Then, she will explore the relationship between ‘hope’, personal agency and criminal records to demonstrate why this is an important topic of conversation. Finally, Nicola will reflect on who is responsible for facilitating hope cautioning against placing a further burden on former lawbreakers.
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    Prison and Probation Research Hub: Consultation of Prisons Strategy White Paper
    (2022-02-03) Knight, Victoria; Little, Ross; Baldwin, Lucy; Collett, Nicola
    This is the PPHub's response to the recent MOJ White Paper on Prisons Strategy launch Dec 2021.
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    Understanding the influence of an early life criminal record on adult life courses; preliminary findings and reflections
    (2019-09-16) Collett, Nicola
    The collateral consequences of a criminal record are increasingly being recognised by scholars researching both de facto and de jure practices which often result in those who have ‘served’ their punishment, facing further exclusion and discrimination. This presentation introduces doctoral research which uses Free Association Narrative Interviewing to gain insight into the lived experiences of adult men and women, now aged 25 and older, who are living in the UK with a criminal record relating to one or more non-custodial sentence(s) attained between the ages of 10-25. This presentation will outline how ‘youth’ criminal records are treated England and Wales, highlight why research must go beyond the arbitrary legal juvenile and adult criminal record distinctions thus, discuss ‘youth’ criminal records and, share preliminary findings from the empirical research. The narratives and quotes of participants will be used to highlight the following: 1) how a criminal record can affect individuals both positively and negatively; 2) how key ‘events’ highlighted by participants reveal that criminal records can play an active role in shaping lives, often after many years of successful desistance; and 3) how participants themselves have reflected on the spatial and temporal context of their criminal record.
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    The utility of narrative for traversing disclosure landscapes; reflections from narrative PhD research
    (2022-09-16) Collett, Nicola
    Criminal record research is a diverse and growing interdisciplinary field attracting attention from scholars and social justice charities around the globe. This critical research has prompted important debate regarding the legal and philosophical justifications for retaining criminal record information, and established an evidence base highlighting the long-term implications retaining such information has for individuals. Adding to this, this paper will introduce the notion of ‘disclosure landscapes’ which seeks to capture the fluid and dynamic environments in which criminal record information can be disseminated. It will then draw on participant narratives from the author’s PhD research to illustrate the highly subjective nature of criminal record experience and the utility of narrative for traversing such landscapes. Finally, reflecting on the effectiveness of adopting a narrative approach for this research, the paper will call for more empirical research to further develop a nuanced understanding of collateral consequences.