The ‘Dead Zone’ in the Stories of People in Prison

Abstract

This chapter derives from a qualitative evaluation on the impact of a prisons-based horticulture and environmental programme concerning the health and well-being of participants selected from four UK prisons. The primary research approach used was the biographic-narrative interpretive method (BNIM). The chapter explores some of the strengths and challenges with regard to conducting BNIM interviews with people in prison in order to build individual case studies. One such case study, with a participant serving a life sentence, is used to illustrate the challenges and benefits of understanding the stories of people in prison, including notions such as rehabilitation of the participant when the criminal act for which they are serving their sentence is consciously avoided in their story.