A special event took place for criminology students to explore careers and the varied roles offered in the criminal justice system (CJS).
The event was organised by senior lecturer Hannah Thurston in response to feedback from students in the Your Voice survey. More than 30 students attended and were able to ask questions to the panels throughout the day via Padlet and verbally.
The first session of the day was a panel discussion and Q&A with guests from the Prison Service and the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB); a board staffed by volunteers that operates in every prison in England and Wales.
The panel included:
- Alex Theobold – Custodial Manager, HMP Lewes
- Nick Fariclough – HMP Lewes IMB vice-chaoir
- Becky Sheeehan – IMB Support Lead
- Jess Calvey – Head of Safety, Diversity and Inclusion, HMP Lewes
The panel shared their journeys into their roles, what motivated them to work in the sector, as well as what they get up to on a day-to-day basis. They also explained the structure of their organisations, the realities of what happens in prison, and how they tackle it and tweak their approach constantly to achieve the best responses and outcomes.
Becky and Jess also chatted about being a female in a male prison and a profession that is currently male dominated although the balance is changing.
Jess is a Brighton criminology graduate and told the students that it was being on jury service that first inspired her to do a criminology degree.
Following a pizza lunch, the second panel of the day consisted of guests from the Police Service and Probation Service:
Rachel Charles – Former Equalities Manager, London Probation Service- Grace Burch – Administrative Services, Sussex Probation Board
- PC Keith Beckly – Children and Young People’s Team, Sussex Police
- PC Tim Read – Exploitation Team, Sussex Police
- PC Maya Morgan – Reducing Violence Against Women and Girls, Sussex Police
Maya is also a Brighton criminology graduate, said: “We’re often there for the worst day of someone’s life, when something truly awful has happened. That’s why it’s so important we get it right.”
The discussions detailed how varied working for the police can be with many different roles you can move in to. Keith has had wide-ranging training from riots to tackling wildlife crime and Tim had held various roles with Sussex Police before moving to the exploitation team.
All the panel agreed that in both the Police and the Probation Service there is no typical working day.
Hannah said: “For most of us, encounters with the criminal justice system (CJS) are few and far between. Instead, we gather much of our knowledge from second-hand stories.
“The purpose of the event was to shed light on the reality of working within the CJS and provide our students with valuable personal insight into possible future career avenues.
“Through their job, every person on that panel had seen the best and the worst of humanity. Yet in a challenging policy context marred by under-funding, they all demonstrated kindness and compassion when speaking about the communities they serve.”
Following the discussions with the Criminal Justice professionals, students were invited to learn more about the entry level positions currently being advertised in a session delivered by Steven Sutcliffe – one of the School of Humanities and Social Science’s Career Development Advisors.
Hannah added: “This was the first time we had run the event, but it was a huge success with students, so we hope to make it an annual one.
“I really can’t thank the speakers enough for their candour and honesty.”
Hannah and Maya chat about the impact Brighton had on them in our short video:
Learn about studying criminology at the University of Brighton.
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