Two academics from our Department of Criminology have been invited to visit South America for a seminar aimed at representatives of the Chilean judicial system. The event, brand ‘Recidivism v/s Resettlement: The Impact of Prison’ has been arranged by the University of Chile specifically to showcase the expertise of Dr Darrick Jolliffe and Professor Carol Hedderman.

Around 150 people are expected to attend, drawn from the National Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Justice, the Prison Service and the Home Office, along with students and academics. The Ministry of Justice and the National Public Defender are sponsoring the day-long event on 5 July 2011, along with the British Embassy.

Professor Carol Hedderman

The Chilean authorities want to evaluate the effectiveness of their prison system but to do that they need a solid, evidence-based approach to measuring recidivism (reoffending) among former prisoners. Dr Jolliffe and Professor Hedderman have both published extensively on this topic. Carol’s presentation on the day will cover ‘Key issues on recidivism and its effect on criminal policy’ while Darrick will discuss ‘Evidence of the impact of imprisonment on later reoffending’

This is a prestigious event and it demonstrates the reputation of our Criminology academics that foreign governments are prepared to fly them halfway round the world to tap into their knowledge and experience.

• You can read Professor Carol Hedderman's thoughts about prison sentences on the Leicester Exchanges website: A taste of imprisonment may punish but it does not reform