Behind Bars Student Conference

Sunderland College sixth form students recently took part in a student conference highlighting the criminal justice system and life behind bars.

The conference began with the students discussing their ideal prison setting in groups, i.e. would they have capital punishment for certain crimes, would prisoners have a cell to themselves or would they share the facilities with another prisoner?

From this exercise the students were then introduced to ex-offenders who talked about how they managed to be detained, their experiences of prison life, what it is really like to be detained for several years and how living in the community with a criminal record can affect your life after being released from prison. There was also a Forensic Psychologist available for questions all day.

Many of the students who attended the conference are looking to move onto careers in the criminal justice sector and are studying A-Levels that will allow them to progress to university and ultimately enter CJS careers. The conference gave each student a great insight around the requirements of their chosen career paths.

Glynis Stephenson-Taylor Sunderland College Lecturer in Psychology said:

“This has been a great experience for our students, without question it was the most interesting student conference I have ever been part of.”

Erin Malkin, Sunderland College A-Level Student added:

“All of the events across the day took me by surprise. I will remember it for a long time. One of the most useful aspects for me was talking to a forensic psychologist because this is the area I would like to work in in the future.”