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Overview

Dr Lucy Baldwin

Honorary Fellow


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Honorary Fellow in the Department of Sociology

Biography

I retired from my role as Associate Professor at Durham University but remain an Honorary Fellow at Durham. I was previously a Senior Lecturer and Researcher at De Montfort University for almost 20 years. I have worked in criminal and social justice for over 35 years and am also a qualified social worker and probation officer. I have worked and researched both in the community, in courts and in prison.

My research and publications focus predominantly on the impact of imprisonment on mothers, and their children in and after prison. My work informed a successful Ref21 Impact Case Study. I have presented nationally and internationally on the importance of working positively and compassionately with mothers in criminal and social justice systems, and I am working with criminal justice partners to design, develop and deliver resources for criminalised mothers. I founded, and now co-lead the Women Family Crime and Justice Research Network, in 2018, and we now have over 2,400 members. The network has produced two edited collections in which myself and my co-convenors have acted as editors (and have authored our own chapters), and a third collection is planned.My research has influenced policy and practice, at local and national levels in the UK. I was invited to provide evidence from my research to the research Female Offender Strategy, the Female Focussed Farmer Review (2019) and the Joint Human rights Committee Inquiry into Maternal Imprisonment (2020). My work evidence is reflected in subsequent reports and outcomes. Lord Farmer himself described my evidence as having made a ‘significant contribution to my findings and was influential in developing the final recommendations of the farmer Review for Women,. Her research was particularly salient in the development of my recommendation on the need for social workers in women’s prisons’ . Subsequently I was invited to join the panel of experts tasked with implementing the recommendation and I remain involved with the project pilot. I am a member of the Government Advisory Board bi-annual stakeholder forum, which meet as a panel of ‘experts’ to discuss and advise on Government policy in relation to women and criminal justice and female imprisonment.

I have written programmes and guidance that are implemented within the prison and probation systems throughout the UK. My ‘Mothers Inside Out’ (MIA) programme was adopted by Pact (prison Advice and Care Trust) and is now accredited with Skills for Justice and is in the process of being rolled out across the female estate. Additionally I have produced the first guidance for probation staff to use in the supervision of mothers, now available nationally and to all supervisors, via the probation service intranet. I have also designed resources for officers to use in their supervision with mothers, which have now been adopted by new ‘First Steps to Change’ probation programme as part of the tool kit for working with women under supervision. My research has led to positive changes in mothering related criminal justice practice and to the development of prison and community-based programmes for mothers, which are now accredited, licensed and being rolled out across UK women’s prisons. In addition I provide regular training to prison and probation staff in relation to working positively and effectively with mothers.

Furthermore, I have, by invitation, undertaken the role of ‘expert witness’ in relation Court proceedings concerning the deportation of newly released from prison foreign national mothers. A previous trustee of 'Women's breakout', and 'Children Heard and Seen' and the charity New Dawn New day (NDND), a charity working with criminalised women in Leicestershire. I also work closely with key stakeholders in the third sector and am active in my hopes for positive change.

Research Groups

Internal

Communities and Social JusticeCriminal Justice, Social Harm and Inequalities Research

External

Women Family. Crime and Justice Research Network (WFCJ)Global Prisoners families Research network

I am currently supervising postgraduate and PhD students but would welcome enquiries from potential PhD candidates interested in the criminalisation of women, motherhood/grandmotherhood, gender and justice and women and trauma, and young motherhood and social contexts.

Current PhD candidate Amy RogersGriffins fellowship Supervisor for Susie Cox

Publications

Baldwin, L. (July 2022). Mothers in and After Prison. Sherfield on Lodden, Waterside Press.

Baldwin, L. ed. (2023) Gendered Justice; Working positively with women in criminal and social justice settings. Sherfield on Lodden, Waterside Press.

Baldwin, L. Abbott, L. (2023) Pregnancy in Prison. Bristol University Press.

Baldwin, L. Parent, K. Wray, B. Mulcahy, J. (2022) ‘Out of Sight Out of Mind’: Arguing the Case for Social Workers in Women’s Prisons. Prison Service Journal

Baldwin, L. (2022) Missed and Lost Opportunities: Recognising Maternal Trauma in Probation Supervision. Probation Quarterly. Issue 23: 16- 20. https://doi.org/10.54006/TDRY6231

Quinlan, C., Baldwin, L. and Booth, N. (2022) Feminist Ethics and Research with Women in Prison. Prison Journal. 2022;102(2):172-195. doi:10.1177/00328855221079265

Baldwin, L. and Abbott, L. (2021) Incarcerated Motherhood; reflecting on 100 Years of Imprisoning Mothers. Prison Service Journal, 257, pp.29-38

Baldwin, L. (2021) Motherhood Challenged: A matricentric feminist study exploring the persisting impact of maternal imprisonment on maternal identity and role. Doctoral thesis. De Montfort University. January 2021. full thesis available online https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/academic-staff/health-and-life-sciences/lucy-baldwin/lucy-baldwin.aspx

Baldwin, L (2021) Executive Summary, Motherhood Challenged: Exploring the persisting impact of maternal imprisonment on maternal identity and role - summary of Doctoral thesis. De Montfort University. January2021.https://dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2086/21372/Executive%20Summary%20PhD%20LBaldwin%20PDF.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Baldwin, L. (2021) Criminal Mothers: The persisting pains of maternal imprisonment’, in Criminal Women; Gender Matters, Co Authored collection by the Criminal Women Voice, Justice and Recognition Network (CWVJR), Grace, S. O’Neill, M. Walker, T. King, H. Baldwin, L. Jobe, A. Lynch, O. Measham, F. O’Brien, K. Seaman, V. Fraser. Bristol University Press

Baldwin, L. (2021) Grandmothering in The Context of Criminal Justice; Grandmothers in prison and grandmothers as carers when a parent is in prison. In Weaving Creative and Scholarly perspectives in Honour of our Women elders. Demeter press. Canada.

Baldwin, L. (2021) Presence, Voice and Reflexivity in Feminist and Creative Research: A personal and professional reflection, In Masson, I, Baldwin, L and Booth, N., (eds). ( 2021), Critical Reflections from the Women, Families, Crime and Justice Research Network, Bristol, Policy Press

Masson, I., Baldwin, L. and Booth, N. (eds). (2021), Critical Reflections from the Women, Families, Crime and Justice Research Network, Bristol, Policy Press

Baldwin, L. (2022) CriminalMothers: The persisting pains of maternal imprisonment. In: Criminal Women; Gender Matters, Co-Authored by the Criminal Women Voice, Justice and Recognition Network (CWVJR), Maggie O’Neill, Sharon Grace, Tammi Walker, Hannah King, Kate O’Brien, Alison Jobe, Fiona Measham, Lucy Baldwin, Vicky Seaman, Orla Lynch, and Katie Fraser. Bristol University Press

Baldwin, L. (2021) Maternal Imprisonment. Clinks Evidence Library (online) https://www.clinks.org/publication/maternal-imprisonment

O’Malley, S. Baldwin, L. Abbott, L (2021) Starting Life in Prison: Reflections of the UK and Irish contexts of pregnant and new mothers in prison, through a children’s rights lens. In Donson, F. Parks, A. Presenting a Children’s Rights Approach to Parental Imprisonment. Palgrave.

Baldwin, L. (2021). Evidence for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women in the Penal System Inquiry into Women’s Health and Wellbeing in Prisons

Baldwin, L. (2020) ‘A Life Sentence’: The Long-Term Impact of Maternal Imprisonment’, In Lockwood, K (ed) Mothering and Imprisonment. Emerald Publishing.

Baldwin, L. (2019) Andrea Yates: 'An Unspeakable Crime'. In: The Encyclopaedia of Women and Crime, Wiley Online Library

Baldwin, L. (2019) Motherhood Judged, Social Exclusion Mothers and Prison. in Byvelds, C. and Jackson, H (eds). Motherhood and Social Exclusion, Demeter press. Canada.

O’Malley, S. and Baldwin, L. (2019) Mothering Interrupted: Mother-child separation via incarceration in England and Ireland. In: Beyer, C., Robertson, A. (Eds) Mothers Without Their Children. Demeter Press. Canada.

Baldwin L. and Raikes B (2019) Seen and Heard: 100 Poems by parents and children affected by imprisonment. Hampshire UK. Waterside Press.

Booth, N., Masson, I. and Baldwin, L. (2018) Promises, promises: can the female offender strategy deliver? Probation Journal, 65(4), pp.429-438.

Baldwin, L. (2018) Motherhood Disrupted: Reflections of Post-prison Mothers in Maternal Geographies (SpEd) Emotion Space and Society. Elsevier. 26, pp.49-56. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1755458616300500?via%3Dihub

Baldwin, L. Quinlan, C . (2018) Within These Walls; Reflections of Women in and after prison; An insight into the experience of women imprisoned in Britain and Ireland. Prison Service Journal. 240:21-27. Available at: https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/crimeandjustice.org.uk/files/PSJ%20240%20November.pdf

Baldwin, L. (2018) Submission of written evidence to Human Rights Committee inquiry on ‘The right to family life: children whose mothers are in prison’. Available from:

http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/human-rights-committee/the-right-to-family-life-children-whose-mothers-are-in-prison/written/91676.html

Baldwin, L. (2018) Submission of written evidence to Lord Farmer’s review “The Importance of Strengthening Female Offenders’ Family and other Relationships to Prevent Reoffending and Reduce Intergenerational Crime”.

Baldwin, L. (2017) Tainted Love. The Impact of Prison on Maternal Identity. Prison Service Journal, 223;28-34. Available at|: https://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/crimeandjustice.org.uk/files/PSJ%20233%20September%202017.pdf

Baldwin, L. Epstein, R. (2017) Short but not sweet: A study exploring the impact of short custodial sentences on mothers and their children. De Montfort University. Oakdale Trust. Available at: https://www.nicco.org.uk/userfiles/downloads/5bc45012612b4-short-but-not-sweet.pdf

Baldwin, L. (2017) Short Sentences Punish Children Too. Russell Webster. Available from; http://www.russellwebster.com/baldwin-children/

Baldwin, L. (2017) Short Sentences Traumatise Mothers and Children. Russell Webster. Available at: http://www.russellwebster.com/baldwin-mothers/

Baldwin, L. (Auth/Ed.) (2015) Mothering Justice: Working with Mothers in Criminal and Social Justice Settings. Sherfield on Lodden, Waterside Press.

Baldwin, L. (2015) Rules of Confinement: Time for Changing the Game. In Criminal law & justice.179;10:195-19 Available at; https://www.academia.edu/14743500/Rules_of_Confinement_Time_for_Changing_the_Game

Baldwin, L. (2015) Alternatives to Custody: Lucy Baldwin Considers the Recent Prison Reform Trust Paper on the Sentencing of Mothers. Criminal Law and Justice Weekly, 179, pp. 891-893

Baldwin L. (2015) Parents in Prison; Fair Doesn't Have to Mean Same. Jail Mail. 06/2015

Baldwin L. (2015) Bish, Bosh, Out . In Jail Mail 05/2015 28-29

Baldwin. L. (2015a) Mothers Confined: Part 1. Over the Threshold. Halsbury Law Exchange. 31.7 15

Baldwin L. (2015b) Mothers Confined: Part 2. Time for Action. Halsbury Law Exchange. 3.8.15

Baldwin L. (2015c) Mothers Confined. Part 3: Lead By Example. Halsbury Law Exchange.6/815

Baldwin L. (2015) Mothers Behind Bars. In Independent Monitor. 116:13

Baldwin L. (2015) What is the Purpose of Punishment? In Criminal Law & Justice. 17912; :336-337

Links to some publications hosted by National Information Centre on Children of Offenders (NICCO) https://www.nicco.org.uk/directory-of-resources/lucy-baldwin-works-on-maternal-imprisonment

Conferences and Invited Talks 

• Invited Speaker to 27th Council of Europe Conference of Directors of Prison and Probation Services (21-22 June 2022, Sevilla, Spain).

• Keynote Speaker ( 13th May) ‘Mothers and Criminal Justice’Conference. HMP Peterborough.

• Keynote speaker IN_CJ – International Online Webinar event ‘Mothers & Criminal Justice 16th May 2022

• Keynote Speaker Conference Event of the International Association of Forensic Psychotherapy annual conference 1 forthcoming 2th May 2022

• Invited Speaker Libertas Chambers Online Event 24th March 2022

• Invited Speaker National Education Union (previously NUT and ATL) forthcoming 12th April 2022

• Invited speaker and Panel Member – ‘Working with Mothers Under Supervision’ Liaison and Diversion Event East Midlands Probation 2nd December 2021

• Invited Speaker Probation Officer Induction event; ‘Working with Mothers on Probation’ 13th December 2021

• Invited Speaker The Impact of Mothers in Prison Research: Changing Policy and Practice. Streamed live on April 27, 2021

• Invited Speaker Research Activism presented to Doctoral College peers 7th April 2021

• Invited Talk – Working Positively with Mothers in Prison – to Senior Leaders teams HMP Peterborough 20th October 2021

• Keynote speaker Maternal Imprisonment; A Disproportionate Harm. A Woman's Place is not in prison: Lucy Baldwin (London, 27 October 2021)

• Invited Talk Working Positively with Mothers in prison. Unlocked Graduates training day 3rd Sept 2021

• Keynote Speaker Birth Companions Mothers on Trial event – Mothers In and After Prison 5th October 2021 (AM)

• Keynote Liaison and Diversion Mini Conference Supervising Motherhood 5th October (PM)

• Invited Talk Generating Research Impact . De Montfort University 8th Sept 2021

• Invited Talk ‘Feminist Research in Action’ De Montfort University 9th September 2020

• Invited Talk November 5th, 2020 (online) Liaison and Diversion Workshop - Working Positively with new mothers in the criminal justice system.

• Keynote Speaker Female Offender Strategy launch (East Midlands) Working with Mothers in Criminal Justice 4th November 2020

• Keynote speaker Hidden Trauma Conference London. ‘Mothers in and After Prison 8th Dec 2020

• Invited Speaker Mothers in and After Prison Unlocked Graduates Event 24th November 2020

• Invited Speaker University of Essex Mothers, Criminal Justice and Human Rights 23rd Oct 2021

• Invited Talk November 15th, 2021 (online) Unlocked Grads – Training prison officers in the care of pregnant women in prison

• Invited Presentation to give oral evidence for Parliamentary Review in Female Offending 4th September

• Keynote Speaker Safeground ‘life or death Conference – ‘Maternal Emotion Matters’ 27th September 2018

• Invited speaker Trevi House mothers and Criminal Justice event Plymouth 1st October 2018

• Invited Speaker and Panel member Clean Break Women in Prison 20th November 2018

• Invited talk at Birkbeck Department of Psychosocial Studies, for MaMSIE Research Network Mapping Maternal Subjectivities, Identities and Ethics Maternal; ‘Maternal Pains of Imprisonment’ on June 8th, 2017

.• Invited panel member Women’s Summit London 30th April 2019

• Invited post show panel ‘Funeral Flowers’ play mothers in prison panel 30th May 2019

• Invited Speaker and Panel member Prisoners’ Advice Service Annual Conference 24th May 2017

• Invited Speaker Children affected by Imprisonment; Children’s Voice Conference London 14th June 2019

• Keynote speaker Women and Criminal Justice Police crime event Plymouth 16th July 2019

• Invited Speaker and panel member Mothers and criminal Justice event –‘The Impact of Maternal Imprisonment’. Birbeck University 8th June 2017

• Keynote Speaker ‘Sentencing and beyond: Women in Prison and access to Mother & Baby Units’. Emotional Impact of maternal Imprisonment 9th March 2017 Garden Court Chambers London

• Invited talk. Reflexivity and Feminist Research Ethics June 2019. University of Leicester.

• Keynote Mothers and Criminal Justice; Women’s Breakout Annual Event and AGM Wednesday 28 June 2017,

• Keynote. Factoring in Motherhood When Working with Mothers in Criminal Justice and Social Justice Settings European Forensic Therapeutic Community EFTC Conference 2017

• Keynote Speaker Quakers Prison Conference Event. Mothers in Prison Newcastle 15th February 2017

• Invited Speaker Maternal Imprisonment University of Warwick 8th March 2017

• Keynote Speaker Sentencing Mothers Conference – ‘Sentencing Mothers’ 24th May 2017

• Paper presentation: Maternal Emotion in the prison space.Emotion and Criminology National Conference. De Montfort University. 18th Feb 2016.

• Invited Speaker 'Women's Breakout ' conference July 2015. Presented on the 'Importance of recognising mothering emotions when working with women in the criminal justice system'

• Invited Speaker at University of Dundee October 2015 Baldwin L. (2015) Mothering Confined: The importance of working emotionally with incarcerated mothers.

• Conference paper presentation University of Leicester on Emotional Methodologies ' Presented a paper on the planned process and methods chosen for my PhD research . (resulted in invitation to publish )

• Invited Speaker at Women Supporting Women Conference at the University of Worcester .November 2015

• Invited Speaker -Women Matter Centre for justice Event London 16th September 2015

• Keynote Speaker -Women supporting Women Event University of Worcester 3rd November 2015

• Invited Speaker Oxford University Mothers in Prison 29th March 2016

• Paper Presentation Research Conference University of Sheffield 8th March 2016

• Keynote Speaker Women’s Breakout AGM Mothers and Criminal Justice 28th June 2016

• Paper Presentation Doctoral students research series De Montfort university 6th September 2016

• Paper Presentation Maternal Emotion in Prison to research group peers de Montfort University 1st November 2016

• Paper Presentation Working positively with mothers in criminal justice settings. for International MIRCI Conference October 2016, Toronto, Canada. The Mothers, Mothering, Motherhood in Today’s World

• Invited Speaker University of Dundee 2015. Working Emotionally with Mothers in Prison.

• Invited speaker University of Ireland. Child and family Research Centre 2016; The Importance of Working Emotionally with Mothers in ‘Systems.

• Invited Panel Member Public Policy Panel- re Mothers and Criminal justice. 16th November 2016

Current Research /Consultancy Activity

• Project Lead ‘The Motherhood Project’ and consultant with Sodexo (15k)

• NIHR RFPB Co-Investigator with UCL and Central and Northwest London NHS Foundation Trust: “Together in Prison: Developing a parenting programme to promote family wellbeing for young fathers in prison.”(whole bid 500,00)

• Founder and co-convenor of an international research network – Women, Family, Crime and Justice, (WFCJ, @WomenFamilyCri1)(a collaboration of academics, practitioners and policy makers with members from Australia, India, USA, New Zealand and Brazil) . The network has produced two edited collections and a third is planned.

• Member of Mothers on Trial alliance with the Centre for family and Child Justice – members include academics from Oxford, Lancaster, Herts, Swansea, Liverpool and Essex universities together with women with lived experience and Birth Companions.

• Peer reviewer for several multi-disciplinary International Journals

• External Examiner University of Worcester

• Expert Witness – mothers facing deportation post prison

• Expert Advisor – HMPPS operational policy and practice with pregnant women in the CJS

• Stakeholder – HMPPS operational policy review advisory panel

Media/ Blogs/ Podcasts/ recorded speaker events 

• Regularly contacted to comment on relevant news items and have appeared on BBC television and radio

• Featured in the Guardian, The Times., The Independent, The Huffington Post, The Conversation, The I paper, The By-line Times and Inside Times

• Regular Columnist for Russell Webster Criminal Justice Blog available lucy baldwin | Russell Webster

• Justice in Conversation Podcast with Lady Edwina Grosvenor https://play.acast.com/s/justice/inconversationwith...drlucybaldwin

• Locked up Living Podcast with Dr Naomi Murphy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIltkJOOJoQ

• Keynote speech A Women’s Place UK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3mK_o533G0

• Keynote Speech European Federation of Therapeutic Communities Conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5JcQCSOLHk

• Invited Speech DMU Prison and Probation Hub events https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxjReXw9djs

Research interests

  • Internal
  • Communities and Social Justice
  • Criminal Justice, Social Harm and Inequalities Research
  • External
  • Global Prisoners families Research network
  • Women Family. Crime and Justice Research Network (WFCJ)