Offploy is proud to announce our contribution to important research being conducted by a research team from the University of Winchester.
We are not the only ones who value high quality, policy informing, industry leading research. Offploy works with multiple universities around the world to produce and contribute to the most cutting-edge social research asking the most pressing questions. This can only be achieved by working together and sharing resources and knowledge to pull towards our shared mission: to make society safer and reduce reoffending by supporting people with criminal convictions into meaningful, mentored and sustainable employment.
Therefore, it was no surprise when friends of Offploy at the University of Winchester – Dr Martina Hutton, Dr Michelle de Jongh and Miss Francesca Crangle-Sim – approached us to contribute to their important research ‘Disrupted and Unequal Consumption Lives of Ex-Offenders’. The project aims to explore the economic strain placed on people with criminal convictions after their release from prison. Prison leavers are often left in the wilderness economically, while facing discrimination and a lack of resources when attempting to support themselves to become contributing members of society.
Offploy was commissioned by the distinguished research team to provide a sample of 10 prison leavers to be interviewed for the project. Strict research deadlines meant the team needed a willing sample gathered responsibly and ethically in a tight turnaround. Our commitment to quality research (discussed in this blog) saw the work being completed on time by our dedicated team, led by our Social Policy and Research Officer, Tim Roebuck.
On the project and the collaborative work with Offploy, the team said, “Our research explores the challenges, both economic and discriminative, that people with criminal records face. During our conversations with participants, they have overwhelmingly cited similar issues and challenges that have yet to be addressed in public policy. Understanding and valuing the lived experiences as told by men and women in these circumstances is key to making necessary changes, or at the very least exposing the economic uncertainty people with criminal records face on a daily basis. Offering invaluable advice and support, Offploy have enabled us to engage with a diverse group of participants and have helped us navigate the issues of economic constraint post release with greater sensitivity and awareness.”
Dr Martina Hutton and Miss Francesca Crangle-Sim of the University of Winchester are long standing friends of Offploy. During Francesca’s Master’s research, Offploy offered to give interviews with two of our team members for the project. Offploy since supported Francesca to continue her important work into a PhD under the expert supervision of Dr Hutton. Our work together on this research project is a further extension of this fruitful relationship, which will no doubt continue to produce important research that informs policy and practice which supports people with criminal convictions into meaningful, mentored and sustainable employment.
Dr Martina Hutton is the Principal Investigator and project lead of this study. Her research focuses on applying political economic analysis, egalitarian theory and psychological health constructs/methods to examine economic vulnerability, deprived consumption and marketplace exclusion. With a PhD in Equality Studies, she is an experienced participatory researcher engaging with diverse groups of people experiencing economic difficulties and their stakeholders. She is an international published author on issues relating to poverty, vulnerability and inequality, marketplace trauma, hunger, and food access.
Dr. Michelle de Jongh is a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the University of Winchester. She has worked extensively with private sector, social enterprises and NGOs as a Sustainable Development and Social Impact advisor in both the UK and in Africa. She is an experienced researcher who has examined in detail the feminisation of vulnerability to poverty in rural Ethiopia and carried-out various socio-economic studies for organisations with operations in West Africa.
Francesca Crangle-Sim is a PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at the University of Winchester. Her PhD study examines how people with criminal records experience systemic restricted choice.
Offploy looks forward to continuing this relationship with the University of Winchester with the hopes of developing more cutting-edge social research around the most pressing questions surrounding people with criminal convictions.
For more information on Tim Roebuck’s work visit our research blog section.