The Voluntary Sector and the Mandatory Statutory Supervision Requirement: Expanding the Carceral Net

Striving for a “good” family visit: the facilitative role of a prison visitors’ centre

“…Of particular note in this research was the management and governance of the visitor centre Broader academic analysis into the role of the voluntary sector in criminal justice settings is lacking (Tomczak, 2015), but findings from this study suggest that they play a critical role in facilitating and supporting prison visits.…”

From the Outside In: Narratives of Creative Arts Practitioners Working in the Criminal Justice System

“…The penal landscape has changed considerably in recent decades with increasing numbers of voluntary sector organisations delivering interventions and services alongside public and private sector organisations (Gojkovic, Mills and Meek ; Wyld and Noble ). Dubbed the penal voluntary sector in the UK (Carey and Walker ; Corcoran ; Tomczak , , ), volunteers and philanthropists have had an established presence in modern penal systems. The creation of a mixed economy of criminal justice in England and Wales over the course of the last three decades has significantly boosted the involvement of the penal voluntary sector (see Maguire , pp.484–5).…”

“…() suggests that the sector increasingly ‘either outwardly complies with, or, in a minority of cases, actively embraces, competitive marketized models’ in a manner that can cause conflict with their founding ethos and values (p.188). Tomczak's (, pp.155,164) study of voluntary sector involvement in payment‐by‐results (PbR) schemes and post‐custodial supervision concludes that these organisations had a role in expansion of regulatory and carceral State power. The sector's strategic importance in the neoliberal programme of penal reform in England and Wales has subjected it to ‘penal drift’ (Corcoran ) alongside more control and discipline by the State (Corcoran et al .…”

“…The sector's strategic importance in the neoliberal programme of penal reform in England and Wales has subjected it to ‘penal drift’ (Corcoran ) alongside more control and discipline by the State (Corcoran et al . ; Tomczak ). However, despite being imbricated in increasingly complex configurations of resourcing in a largely unplanned and competitive mixed market of penal provision, voluntary sector organisations have not entirely abandoned established practice and values (Tomczak , p.166) nor become ‘biddable agents’ of neoliberal policy and marketisation (Tomczak , p.482).…”

“…However, despite being imbricated in increasingly complex configurations of resourcing in a largely unplanned and competitive mixed market of penal provision, voluntary sector organisations have not entirely abandoned established practice and values (Tomczak , p.166) nor become ‘biddable agents’ of neoliberal policy and marketisation (Tomczak , p.482). This appears to reflect a long‐standing duality in the voluntary sector, identified by Kendall and Knapp (), Salaman (, p.3), and Tomczak (): it acts as a ‘reactionary force’ legitimising the status quo and as a ‘channel for dissent’ (Kendall and Knapp , pp.59–60). Service provision coexists with: advocacy and campaigning (Hucklesby and Corcoran , p.2); philanthropy and ‘middle class patronage’ (Kendall and Knapp , p.51) with an ethos of mutual aid (Smith, Rochester and Hedley ); individual empowerment with social control (Tomczak , p.153).…”