Roma Spectacle version no:220814
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Roma Spectacle; Eastern European Roma Women Offenders in and out of a London Prison
IRAS ID
155943
Contact name
Nicholas De Genova
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
CY171114-A, Research Information Sheet for Prisoners; CY171114-B, Research Information Sheet for Professionals; CY171114-C, Research Information Sheet for ex-offenders; CY141114-D, Participant Observation Information Sheet; CY141114_G, Schedule & Questions for prisoner interviewees; CY141114-H, Schedule & Questions for ex-offender interviewees; CY1411114-F, Schedule & Questions for Group discussions; CY111114-X, Consent form for ex-offenders in the community; CY111114-W, Consent form for discussion group participants; CY111114-Y, Consent form for prisoner interviewees; CY111114-Z, Consent form for staff
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
I conducted preliminary research at HMP/YOI Holloway in 2010 relating to Foreign National prisoners (Yildiz and Bartlett, 2011) One of the important findings to come out of this study was that 5% of the prisoners held at HMP/YOI Holloway were Eastern European women who self-identified as Roma. Their population at HMP/YOI Holloway was disproportionately higher than their numbers in London. A recent study by the University of Salford estimated that there are approximately 36,000 Eastern European Roma migrants living in London (Brown et al, 2013) . At the 2011 census, London’s population was 8.17 million. The total Roma migrant population, including Roma from all other European countries, constitutes approximately 0.004% of the population of London. In my preliminary research I found that 5.0% of the population at HMP/YOI Holloway was comprised of Eastern European Roma women prisoners. This is truly remarkable as it is disproportionately high relative to the number of Roma migrants in London: foreign-national Roma women are 1,250 times more likely to be found in prison than Roma persons in the population at large in London, one of the most diverse cities in the world.
Furthermore as a group Roma women offenders presented significant differences from other foreign national prisoners; they were all in prison for theft, serving short sentences and frequently coming in and out of prison. In spite of their significant differences from the rest of the prison population, there is not much known about their experiences within the Criminal Justice System. Furthermore, Roma women are known to have the poorest health status in the EU (Carrasco-Garrido, et al.,2010). It is not known if healthcare services in London are able to deliver equally to this group of women in prison and in the community. Therefore it is important to understand first, why there is a large number of Eastern European Roma women in London prison, second, to identify effective strategies to improve the resettlement and rehabilitation of Roma women offenders, third to identify gaps in their access to services. This proposed study will organise first; group discussions with Roma women in the prison to identify the main issues, which will then be explored in depth in the one to one meetings at HMP/YOI Holloway and will conduct follow-up interviews in the community to understand the main social, economic and political factors in reoffending and rehabilitation. Second, it will investigate their access to healthcare services in prison and in the community. Third, it will investigate their experiences with statutory institutions and voluntary organisations in London using a social network method of enquiry to look into how services respond to their particular social and healthcare needs. It will particularly focus on the experiences of Romanian and Bulgarian Roma women offenders as they are the largest Roma women offender group at HMP/YOI Holloway.
The research outcome will be compared with other studies conducted in relation to Roma women offenders across different EU countries such as Spain and Portugal as well as with other studies about British Gypsy, Romany and Traveller prisoners and women prisoners in England and Wales in order to understand the similarities, differences and emerging patterns with Romanian and Bulgarian Roma offenders in London and other European capitals.
The outcome of this research will be highly significant to Criminal Justice System agencies, the Prison Service and healthcare services as it aims to identify effective strategies to improve the resettlement and rehabilitation of Roma women offenders as well as to identify the main health issues and their access to services.
REC name
London - South East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1635
Date of REC Opinion
2 Dec 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion