Featured Blog
In this blog, Gustav Tallving, Executive Director of EuroPris, explores a key issue affecting prison systems across Europe and beyond: the role and challenges faced by prison staff.
6th November 2025
In this expert blog for Penal Reform International, Dwayne Antojado highlights that meaningful involvement of people with lived experience of imprisonment is essential for creating truly human-centred justice systems. His work shows that co-designed education, authentic representation, and narrative methods deepen understanding of imprisonment, while fair support and decision-making roles for affected individuals turn personal […]
5th August 2025
In this expert blog, PRI’s Tinatin Uplisashvili explores the persistence of informal prison hierarchies across post-Soviet penitentiary systems, structures that continue to shape prison life through violence, social exclusion and informal authority. Drawing on recent reports by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and long-standing documentation from multiple countries, the blog analyses how […]
22nd July 2025
In this expert blog for Penal Reform International, Sofie Arjon Schütte analyses the phenomenon of corruption in prisons, fuelled by severe power imbalances, limited oversight, and widespread overcrowding, creating conditions ripe for bribery, extortion, and abuse – particularly against vulnerable groups.
15th July 2025
In this blog, PRI’s Executive Director Olivia Rope reflects on the urgent need for meaningful prison reform, drawing on her recent participation at the United Nations General Assembly session marking ten years of the Nelson Mandela Rules.
25th June 2025
In this expert blog for Penal Reform International, Dr Marion Vannier and Dr Helen Gair from the University of Manchester explore how hope is imagined, experienced and transformed within the context of life imprisonment.
5th June 2025
How can probation services help build a greener future? In this blog, Rob Allen and Steve Pitts propose a “Green Probation Agenda” to align rehabilitation with environmental sustainability, showcasing global promising practices.
29th April 2025
Drawing on interviews with older people in California’s prisons, this blog explores end-of-life care in prison—revealing urgent challenges, patient perspectives, and lessons for humane, geriatric prison health reform.
12th April 2025
Violence in European prisons is rising, driven by overcrowding, staff shortages, and organised crime. This blog explores trends, data practices, and reforms needed for humane, rehabilitative and secure prison systems.
2nd April 2025
Discover how European prisons navigate overcrowding. This blog explores disparities, impacts, and innovative reforms, drawing on 2024 data and insights from PRI’s Global Prison Trends series.
11th December 2024
On 14th of June 2024, the 27 Justice Ministers of the EU adopted landmark Council Conclusions on ‘Small-scale Detention: focusing on social rehabilitation and reintegration into society’. In this blog, Noa Shoshan from RESCALED – a movement advocating for the use of detention houses instead of large prison institutions – explains their relevance for the […]
23rd October 2024