Grayson Bartels is a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh working on his thesis which looks at how people in prison recover from Substance Use Disorder (SUD).

In this episode of Just Humans we talk about Grayson’s own struggle with addiction to narcotics, the emotional cost of this kind of research and why he thinks connection is the essential ingredient to recovery.

This episode includes a clip taken from Johann Hari’s Ted Talk, ‘Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong’ which is available on YouTube https://youtu.be/PY9DcIMGxMs

If you have been affected by this podcast and would like help and information please visit this website Support for people affected by drugs | NHS inform

Hosted/Produced/Edited by Rachelle Cobain, Communications Officer at SCCJR

Follow us on Twitter via: @RachelleCobain @gray_bartels

Music: ‘Rewind’ by Donna Maciocia and Sean H available to download from the Distant Voices EP ‘Looking at Colours Again’.

Visit the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research website: www.sccjr.ac.uk and follow @TheSCCJR on Twitter & Instagram

From Connection to Recovery: Why an Addict Alone is in Bad Company

Dr Emma Forbes joins us in this episode to describe her extraordinary project GlassWalls which uses the medium of stained glass to shine a light on domestic abuse in Scotland.

Emma talks to Rachelle Cobain about each of the glass panels and the stories they tell us about victim/survivors and how law and society has viewed domestic abuse over the last few decades.

The panels are part of a collaboration between the women at the Daisy Project in Glasgow along with Charles Provan and Brian Waugh from Wasps Studios.

You can see photographs of all the panels on the GlassWalls website https://glasswallsart.com/

The Daisy Project provides domestic abuse advocacy and support https://thedaisyproject.org.uk/

With special thanks to Jo Mango and the women of the Daisy Project who wrote the song ‘Are you Listening?’ which is played at the end of the episode.

Hosted/Produced/Edited by Rachelle Cobain, Communications Officer at SCCJR

Follow us on Twitter via: @RachelleCobain @Emma_E_Forbes @Glasswalls3

Intro music: ‘Rewind’ by Donna Maciocia and Sean H available to download from the Distant Voices EP ‘Looking at Colours Again’.

Visit the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research website: www.sccjr.ac.uk and follow @TheSCCJR on Twitter & Instagram

Are you Listening? Shining A Light on Domestic Abuse in Scotland

Former solicitor and now PhD student Deborah Russo intended her research into segregation in Scottish prisons to begin with a series of in-person interviews, but as Covid hit in 2020 she quickly had to devise an alternative plan.

Over the last year she has been working on a written correspondence project which has seen her amass more than 150 letters from people in prison, detailing personal accounts of their experiences of isolation, the physical and psychological toll it has taken on them, and the ways in which they seek to cope with life inside.

Deborah found that as these letters left the prison cell and went beyond the gates they acted as a bridge between the prisoner and the researcher, leading to a much more powerful, personal, and often cathartic exchange.

“In the mind of the participant it must mean something; that [the letter] moves away from the carceral space and perhaps it’s a way for the mind to become freer,” Deborah tells our host Rachelle Cobain.

Deborah gives listeners an incredibly moving insight into the minds of those isolated in prison, left without connection or meaningful human contact.

*Advisory: Please be aware that at around the 17-minute mark the conversation contains some adult sexual references.

Hosted/Produced/Edited by Rachelle Cobain, Communications Officer at SCCJR

Follow us on Twitter @RachelleCobain @russo_dea

Music: ‘Rewind’ by Donna Maciocia and Sean H available to download from the Distant Voices EP ‘Looking at Colours Again’.

Visit the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research website: www.sccjr.ac.uk and follow @TheSCCJR on Twitter & Instagram

Letters from Prison: An Exploration of Isolation

Fergus McNeill, who’s a Professor of Criminology and Social Work at the University of Glasgow, started his career as a criminal justice social worker before entering the world of academia in the late 90’s. Since then, much of his work has focused on how we punish, rehabilitate and reintegrate people into the community after they’ve offended.

In this episode we talk about how two very different encounters Fergus has had during his career – one with a man we’re calling Teejay and another with Mary – had a profound and enduring impact on his research and his perception of supervision.

As Fergus uses song writing and photography to both engage and collaborate with Teejay, we also look at the role art has played in helping him understand people with lived experiences and how it has provided a degree of proximity to his research participants.

Pervasive Punishment: Making Sense of Mass Supervision (2018) Emerald Publishing is available here.

McNeill, F. (2018) ‘Mass supervision, misrecognition and the Malopticon’, Punishment and Society, first published January 29, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474518755137 An open access version can be found here: http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/154645/

The song played at the end of the episode is called Blankface which featured on the Vox Liminis Seen and Heard EP. Written by Teejay with Fergus McNeill. Performed by: Louis Abbott, Donna Maciocia and Tom Gibbs. Recorded and produced by Louis Abbott


Just Humans is Hosted/Produced/Edited by Rachelle Cobain, Communications Officer at SCCJR

Follow us on Twitter @RachelleCobain @fergus_mcneill

Intro music: ‘Rewind’ by Donna Maciocia and Sean H available to download from the Distant Voices EP ‘Looking at Colours Again’.

Visit the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research website: www.sccjr.ac.uk and follow @TheSCCJR on Twitter & Instagram

Teejay & Mary: Two Tales of Supervision

Since completing her PhD thesis, Dr Anastacia Elle Ryan has spent the last ten years working as a researcher, advocate and social entrepreneur promoting the rights of sex workers and criminalised women in Scotland and further afield. 

Anastacia founded a charity which aimed to remove the stigma often associated with sex work and provided support and services that improved the lives of hundreds of women across Scotland.

In this final episode of the season, Anastacia talks to Rachelle Cobain about the social and legal position of sex work, how decriminalisation may have a positive impact on workers in Scotland and why she decided to turn her academic studies into activism and advocacy. 

The Charity, SISU, is being relaunched soon, follow updates on Twitter @SISU_UK

Hosted/Produced/Edited by Rachelle Cobain, Communications Officer at SCCJR

Follow us on Twitter @RachelleCobain @AnastaciaRyan

Music: ‘Rewind’ by Donna Maciocia and Sean H available to download from the Distant Voices EP ‘Looking at Colours Again’.

Visit the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research website: www.sccjr.ac.uk and follow @TheSCCJR on Twitter & Instagram

Punishment & Protection: The Paradox of Sex Work in Scotland

The Centre is a collaboration between the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling and Strathclyde. The SCCJR aims to produce research that informs policy and practice and advances our understanding of justice.

SCCJR

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