Professor Richard Sparks contributes to BBC documentary
Tue 22 October 2024
Richard Sparks, Professor of Criminology at Edinburgh Law School, recently contributed to the BBC documentary Inside Barlinnie.
The three-part documentary series explores life inside Scotland’s largest and best-known prison, as well as reflecting on its often troubled past.
Featuring interviews from current and past inmates, prison workers and other professionals. As well as showcasing archival footage the series aims to show the changes that have been made to the prison system over the years.
In the third film Professor Sparks discusses the often counter-productive ways in which the Scottish prison system in the 1970s dealt with prisoners considered difficult to control and the creation of the ‘experimental’ Special Unit at Barlinnie where some of these men found an opportunity to rebuild their lives.
Professor Sparks said: "It seems timely today to reflect on the legacies of the Special Unit, now so often overlooked or treated as a mere historical curiosity. The Special Unit offered men whose prison histories often involved extreme violence, brutalization and conflict the opportunity to participate in the decisions that shaped their lives. Some of them did not make it, but others rose to the challenge in extraordinary ways. The time I spent there in the 1990s convinced me that it is a story that can still inform the future of prisons and other institutions."
Richard Sparks is also interviewed in a new book about the history of the Special Unit – Kirstin Anderson (ed) The Barlinnie Special Unit: Art, Punishment and Innovation, Waterside Press.
After 142 years, Barlinnie is due to close with prisoners being moved to the new H.M.P Glasgow which is currently under construction. After being in use for more than a century the prison is no longer considered fit for purpose. The Scottish Prison Service affirms that the new prison will see a larger focus on rehabilitative work which is currently difficult to conduct in Barlinnie.
The full series can be found on BBC iPlayer.
Inside Barlinnie | BBC iPlayer
Learn more about Professor Sparks work.