Prison Service Journal: 208

This special edition of Prison Service Journal focuses on the work of HMP Whatton, a prison which specialises in the management of men who have committed sexual offences.

There are around 10,500 people in the prison system convicted of sexual offences, almost 15 per cent of the sentenced prisoner population. This edition details the professional response to the management and treatment of sex offenders, as such eschewing the emotive responses that have characterised much public debate and instead taking a more evidence-based and rational approach to a controversial and challenging subject.

In this edition:

• Editorial comment
• HMP Whatton – A Prison of Change, by Dr Nicholas Blagden and Karen Thorne
• ‘This isn’t a real prison’: prisoner safety and relationships in HMP Whatton, by Alice Ievins
• The Use of Medication to Treat Sexual Preoccupation and Hypersexuality in Sexual Offenders, by Rebecca Lievesley, Belinda Winder, Helen Elliott, Adarsh Kaul, Karen Thorne and Kerensa Hocken
• A brief report on the provision of services for hearing impaired, Intellectually Disabled, ADHD and autistic spectrum offenders at HMP Whatton, by Elizabeth Dunn, Karen Thorne and Kerensa Hocken
• Doing Good Risk Assessment With Intellectually Disabled Offenders, by Kerensa Hocken
• Treating Deaf Sex Offenders: Theory, Practice and Effectiveness, by Nicola Payne and Helen O’Connor
• Older offenders: the challenge of providing services to those aging in prison, by Lynn Saunders
• Treating the person not the prisoner: How dynamic talking therapy interventions support Sex Offender Programmes and risk reduction at HMP Whatton, by Dr Ronald Harper and Deborah Franks

Book reviews:

• The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Legal and Ethical Aspects of Sex Offender Treatment and Management, by Karen Harrison and Bernadette Rainey (Eds) (reviewed by Jon Brown)
• Offender rehabilitation and therapeutic communities: Enabling change the TC way, by Alisa Stevens (reviewed by Richard Shuker)
• Prison violence: Causes, consequences and solutions, by Kristine Levan (reviewed by Jamie Bennett)