5. Professor David Wilson & Professor Michael Brookes - The Barlinnie Special Unit: A failed success

Can therapeutic environments survive the long haul in prisons?  What happens when prison environments emphasise recovery and growth?

 

Professor Michael Brookes (OBE) and Professor David Wilson of Birmingham City Hospital talk about their recent article, A failed success: the Barlinnie Special Unit, which came out in International Journal of Prisoner Health August 2020. They consider this unit, to most appearances highly successful working with men who the rest of the scottish prison service had struggled to contain, and why it ultimately closed. The conversation extends to thinking about why some highly creative organisations succeed and others fail.  

Professor Michael Brookes was formerly Director of Therapeutic Communities at HMP Grendon where for eleven years he was the clinical lead within this accredited therapeutic community prison.

https://www.bcu.ac.uk/research/-centres-of-excellence/centre-for-applied-criminology/people/michael-brookes

 

David Wilson is an expert on serial killers through his work with various British police forces, academic publications, books, and media appearances. He can be found at: https://professorwilson.co.uk