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Criminal

How Our Prisons Are Failing Us All

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About this listen

 'Compelling, urgent and devastating. A triumph' The Secret Barrister

'Funny, heart-breaking and utterly authentic' Dr Amanda Brown, author of THE PRISON DOCTOR

'A breath-taking account of the UK's crumbling prison system. Every politician and decision-maker involved in our prisons should be placed on 23-hour lockdown and made to read this book' Nick Pettigrew, author of ANTI-SOCIAL

"I was what the older generation of prison officers called a 'care bear'. It was my job to work with the prisoners most in danger of falling through the cracks and, if not deliver them safely to the community upon release, fully rehabilitated, then at least stop them from killing themselves or anyone else..."

Come with Angela Kirwin for a journey inside prison like no other. For over a decade she was a social care worker in some of Britain's most notorious prisons.

Now she wants to tell the stories of the men she met, because she believes that prison is failing everyone, damaging the most vulnerable people in our societies, creating habitual criminals, leaving us all less safe and contributing to a society that is immeasurably less humane. Every year, we spend billions of pounds on a system that fundamentally doesn't work.

Rather than a separate world full of people that aren't like us, prison is where the most damaged and vulnerable people in our society end up and we all need to urgently care about that, so we can change it. Because the state of our prisons is criminal. Crime Social Sciences True Crime Inspiring

Critic reviews

The most compelling account I've read from the other side of the fence....she digs instead into the complex backgrounds of the inmates in her care, while exploring the wider social and political problems that have turned prisons into a factory for reoffending...there are welcome moments of levity
Compelling, urgent and devastating. Criminal tells the stories from within our prisons that many - not least those in power - would rather went untold. How we treat the vulnerable, the broken and the irredeemable defines our humanity. Angela Kirwin's heartbreaking, beautifully rendered true-life tales forensically expose uncomfortable truths about how we order our society, how we relate to each other, and what we must change. A triumph
The book is at its best when she strips aways the physical and psychological walls that separate those inside from the communities that one day they will rejoin, however long ministers make their sentences...her plea for society to be more compassionate and prisons kinder, safer places, is heartfelt and humane.
This is an astonishingly powerful and authentic portrait of today's fatally flawed prison system. Angela Kirwin writes compellingly and researches meticulously. She weaves together her eyewitness narrative and her reforming zeal into a compelling story which should shake our national conscience
A funny, heart-breaking and utterly authentic journey inside prison. Everyone needs to read this book
A brilliant, heartfelt, deeply moving and utterly enraging account of life inside Britain's failing prisons system. The chasm between the political rhetoric of 'Prison Works' and the reality of a system shredded by austerity is growing ever wider and this book from someone who has worked on the frontline should act as a wake up call for radical change. We are wasting billions on perpetuating failure, making rehabilitation harder than ever, destroying lives and contributing to crime rather than bringing it down
Fascinating and necessary, Criminal is a deeply humane look at an often inhumane system
A breath-taking account of the UK's crumbling prison system. Kirwin's wealth of experience matches insight, moral clarity, compassion and the ability to find humour and hope in even the darkest of corners. Deserves to be spoken of in the same breath as The Secret Barrister as an unflinching breakdown of how our criminal justice system is failing society. Every politician and decision-maker involved in our prisons should be placed on 23-hour lockdown and made to read this book
A vibrant, authentic and shocking personal account that blends heart-breaking stories with heart-stopping stats. There is no ignoring this book. Every member of society should read it because a failing prison system fails us all
Everyone should read Criminal. It's brave and funny and moving and insightful
All stars
Most relevant
Shocking and important, this book calls truth to power and must be read. Thank you for writing it Angela!

We should all read this book

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In my view this is a must read for anyone who has given the slightest thought about our prison system. As a prison chaplain working across two prisons, I’ve seen all that is written about here and felt profoundly sad that despite the very best individuals working in that environment can offer, it goes nowhere in a system that is dysfunctional.

Stunning and accurate summing up of the failures within our criminal justice system

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This inside view of our failing prison system should be compulsory reading for every politician.
Angela Kirwin’s narration of her intelligent & compassionate writing adds further impetus and immediacy to the importance of her words.

Should be compulsory reading

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Thank you to a work colleague who told me about this this brilliant but distressing book. It is evidence based, humane, compassionate and most of all deeply disturbing. As a social worker myself It didn’t tell me anything I didn’t know about how people come into contact with the criminal justice system and I suspect if our politicians were to read it they would say the same. It is deeply disturbing because in spite of those in power knowing this they do what (Micky??) says and follow the definition of madness - doing the same thing over again expecting different results. A succession of Politicians have eroded public services and communities. Neo-liberalism has a significant part to play. Angela’s reading of her book is excellent and I congratulate her on this important piece of work. I have recommended to many other people.

Damning indictment of our society

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Inspirational, emotional, thought provoking, funny, sad and in moments a book that leaves you feeling ashamed but compelled to work with the author to make change.

A work of passion, dedication and genius. This book opens the doors to the closed and frankly distasteful world of our prisons.

More than a book about change

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