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

Suitable for discovery, scientific, TV, media, internet storytelling.

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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.

Letters from Prison: An Exploration of Isolation

SCCJR

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