Swarthmore Lecture 2024 to focus on prisons and punishment
Next year's Swarthmore Lecture, a key date in the Quaker diary, will be delivered by prison expert Ben Jarman.
A west London Quaker, Jarman has worked in and around prisons for nearly 15 years after being drawn to the field while working for the Quaker Council for European Affairs in Brussels.
In his Swarthmore Lecture, organised and funded by Quaker learning and research organisation Woodbrooke, Jarman will explore the “messy middle ground" between severe punishment and calls for prison abolition.
Jarman's PhD research, part-funded by a Quakers in Britain Adult Education grant, focused on the experiences of men serving life sentences for murder in English prisons.
Now based at the World Prisons Research Programme at Birkbeck, University of London, Jarman has worked for Clinks, supporting the involvement of the wider voluntary sector in criminal justice.
He also managed the prison volunteering programme of Fine Cell Work, a social enterprise training prisoners in paid textile arts.
Quakers have worked for prison reform since the late 17th century, with Elizabeth Fry's work in Newgate Prison the most famous.
Nowadays, restorative justice approaches are a central focus. Quakers in Criminal Justice (QICJ) offer mutual support for Quakers working in various branches of the system.
QICJ also work with Quakers in Britain on government policy, and lobbied MPs on indeterminate sentences earlier this year.
The Swarthmore Lecture is part of Britain Yearly Meeting, the annual Quaker get-together to be held 26-30 July 2024. Jarman's lecture will also be live streamed on the Woodbrooke YouTube Channel.