Distinguishing peer from non-peer across the criminal justice sector
A taxonomy differentiating peer roles grounded in the insight of those with living experience of the peer mentor role in prison
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12664355 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Katherine Albertson (0000-0001-7708-1775, Sheffield Hallam University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 352-372 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-06 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Punishment & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1462-4745 • E-ISSN: 1741-3095 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/14624745251383929 |
| OpenAlex | W4414857035 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 39 |
Amongst a variety of peer involvement and service user engagement roles, designed to realise criminal justice policy revolution and penal power re-alignment rhetoric, the peer mentor has garnered particular attention. What constitutes a peer from a non-peer remains undefined. Aggravating this uncertainty is a current lack of distinction made between different peer role profiles. We present qualitative residents-in-prison data drawn from an evaluation spanning four UK prisons. Residents-in-prison clearly distinguish their peers as those with living, rather than lived experience of custody. This is an original and important finding. We argue it is the shared synchronous living experience of criminal justice sanctions that constitutes the manifoldly transformative potential of the distinct peer mentor role. The Ministry of Justice's One HMPPS policy drive to consolidate practice indicates this uniquely dynamic definition of peer-ship status has implications beyond the custodial sector in which it is generated. Distinguishing between living and lived experience may have broader implications beyond the peer mentor role
Criminal justice · Economic Justice · Power (physics · Prison · Qualitative research · Sanctions · Transformative learning · Variety (cybernetics · Art Therapy and Mental Health · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Mentoring and Academic Development
Interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Helping Others as a Response to Reconcile a Criminal Past
Maximizing the utility of peer support in carceral settings
Peer Support and Well-Being
The Importance of Positive Social Support During Reentry From Prison
Developing social capital in probation practice by drawing on non-criminal justice community spaces and places
‘Giving back and getting on with my life’
Peer Mentors and Desistance
Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis
Walking the walk
I am the person now I was always meant to be’
Who owns desistance? A triad of agency enabling social structures in the desistance process
Generalising from qualitative evaluation
How is Social Care Provided in Adult Prisons in England and Wales
Critical Narratives Or Crime Stories? The Ethics And Politics Of Narrative Research In Criminology
Social Capital, Mutual Aid and Desistance
I Wanted to Feel the Way They Did
Assistance, Support and Monitoring? The Paradoxes of Mentoring Adults in the Criminal Justice System
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |