Bücher von Angela Devlin

Criminal Classes comprises recollections by offenders of their schooldays together with a commentary by the author. It was praised from the outset and has been twice reprinted in response to demand. A wealth of information for criminologists, sociologists and educationalists is contained in this book:1. New Kids on the Block Offenders affected by multiple and fragmented schooling. 2. Odd One Out Special needs that went unnoticed. 3. No Place Like Home The Effects of Social Disadvantage. 4. Teachers - Good, Bad and Boring How teachers and head teachers can influence and intervene.5. Bullies Causes and effects of bullying at school. 6. Wagging and Sagging Bunking and Skiving: Truanting and offending. 7. Mates Peer group influences. 8. Spare the Rod Punishment and exclusion from school. 9. Gold Stars The importance of motivation, success, praise and reward. 10. Picking Up the Pieces What can be done at school to limit future offending? Some practical suggestions.

More and more women are being sent to prison: at the time when this book was written numbers had doubled over the last five years, and the Prison Reform Trust called this 'a rate of increase without precedent in the modern era.' Indeed, the figures for convicted women shows an even greater increase - 76% according to the National Association of Probation Officers, more than twice the increase for men. Though the media focuses on high profile women prisoners like Myra Hindley and Rosemary West, most women become 'invisible' as soon as they pass through the prison gates and are subsumed into a world that is predominantly masculine and insensitive to their very different needs.The author spent five years visiting twelve of the 16 prisons that take women, interviewing female prisoners and, more unusually, those whose job it is to care for them - prison officers, education, probation and healthcare staff, chaplains and counselors. In a book that is deliberately accessible to the general reader as well as to the prison professional, she vividly recreates the realities of prison life for a woman at the end of the twentieth century, as conditions worsen with overcrowding, staff shortages and expenditure cuts. Some of Devlin's findings will shock as well as inform: she describes the over-use of medication as a means of control; the violence resulting from drug misuse; the plight of ethnic minority and foreign national women, and the self-mutilation and suicide attempts of female prisoners in desperate need of help.

Going Straight was the flagship publication for the launch of Unlock, the National Association of Ex-Offenders in 1999 and comprises interviews with people who have 'succeeded' after being in prison, often having had what is often described as 'a criminal career'. All royalties are paid to Unlock. The book looks at a range of criminals who have changed their way of life. They include famous, notorious, creative and ordinary people who were prepared to talk about the turning point in their lives (some people don't, of course) - the events which caused them to leave crime behind.The central part of the book comprises interviews with people whose experiences have been raw, demanding and sometimes 'close to the edge'. Their candid explanations about how they rebuilt their lives - often full or remorse for their victims and determined to repay something to their communities - are challenging, illuminating and a cause for some optimism.