Dr Laura Kelly-Corless
![image overlay](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg width="223" height="223" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/%3E)
Laura is a Senior Lecturer in criminology and teaches across the undergraduate and postgraduate criminology programmes. Laura is a leading UK scholar in the area of d/Deaf prisoners, receiving her PhD in 2017, before going on to publish her findings in a number of peer reviewed journals. She was awarded Prison Service Journal outstanding article of the year 2017 and was presented the award in 2018 at HMP Grendon by Dr Jamie Bennett. There has been significant media attention around this work, including most prominently, Laura being invited to talk as an expert on a special edition of BBC 2’s See Hear.
During her career to date, Laura has focused significantly on raising awareness about the disproportionate pain and punishment experienced by d/Deaf people in prison and beyond. She acts as a key expert advisor for Her Majesty’s Probation & Prison Service, the Parole Board and the Prison and Probation Ombudsman, delivering invited expert presentations and supporting them in work to improve the lived realities of d/Deaf people in prison. Laura’s research has generated impact in a number of ways across these organisations, and has also been used to underpin a training programme for BSL interpreters in prison. In July 2023, Laura’s work with key stakeholders culminated in the formation of a ‘d/Deafness and HM Prison and Probation Working Group’, with Dr Dan McCulloch from the Open University and Laura acting as co-chairs alongside a Senior Diversity Lead within HMPPS. This represents the first time that an organised group of experts have come together in relation to this population.
In 2023, Laura co-led the organisation of the British Society of Criminology (BSC) Conference here, alongside Dr Charlotte Barlow. The conference involved over 400 delegates from across the globe, and the BSC Executive Committee provided exemplary feedback for its organisation. Laura is the Lead of the Prisons and Probation strand of the Criminal Justice Partnership, working alongside other scholars with similar research interests across the University. As part of this, Laura and colleagues Dr Abi Stark and Dr Ruth Parkes hosted a BSC funded Prison Transitions conference in 2023, culminating in a forthcoming Prison Service Journal Special Edition.
Laura is a passionate researcher. She has completed post-doctoral research with members of the Psychosocial Research Unit, exploring the impact of theatre based interventions with vulnerable groups such as imprisoned people and ‘at-risk’ young people. She is currently working on a British Academy funded project, exploring the lives of members of the Deaf community post release from custody.
Between the years 2016 and 2021 Laura created and facilitated Debating Differences, a hugely successful student-prisoner debating programme at HMP Kirkham, where final year law and criminology students came together with prisoners there to learn the skill of structured debating.
Laura supervises student projects at undergraduate, masters and doctorate level. She is on the Editorial Board for Disability and Society and has been an Adhoc reviewer for a number of journals. She has experience of examining PhDs.
- Postgraduate Certificate of Academic Practice, Fellow of Higher Education Academy, University of Central Lancashire, 2022
- PhD, University of Central Lancashire, 2017
- MA Criminal Justice Studies, University of Leeds, 2013 [distinction]
- Ba (Hons) Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Leeds, 2010
- Prison Service Journal Outstanding Article of the Year 2017. This was voted for by the Journal’s Editorial Board, who commented: “The editorial board of the Prison Service Journal is proud to announce that Dr Laura Kelly, Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Central Lancashire, has won the Prison Service Journal Prize for Outstanding Article 2017. Dr Kelly’s article ‘Suffering in Silence: The unmet needs of d/Deaf prisoners’ appeared in edition 234. The article is a sensitive and in depth study based upon interviews with d/Deaf prisoners in order to reveal their experiences and illuminate the often hidden harms they face. This research focuses on people who are often overlooked and whose needs are not clearly understood. “By giving voice to d/Deaf people in prison, Dr Kelly does much to build understanding, identify practical steps that might be taken to ameliorate the pains of imprisonment, and challenge the causes of cultural and social marginalisation. This article is a significant and important contribution that deserves to be read by those who are involved in prisons.”
- Imprisonment
- d/Deaf prisoners
- Education in prisons
- Prisoner experiences
- Research methods
- Arts based programmes and methods
- Howard League for Penal Reform
- European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control
Key publications:
- Kelly-Corless, L. and McCarthy, H. (2024) ‘Moving beyond the Impasse: Importation, Deprivation and Difference’, The Prison Journal, DOI: 10.1177/00328855241292791.
- Kelly-Corless, L. (2024) ‘Deaf Research in Prison: Doable but Difficult’ in Sloan, J. Researching Prisons. Routledge
- Kelly-Corless, L. (2022) ‘No longer free to be Deaf: Cultural, social and medical understandings of d/Deafness in prison’, Disability and Society, DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2022.2143326.
- Baybutt, M and Kelly-Corless, L (2022) Moving forwards: Using creative methods for people in prison with care experience. Prison Service Journal, 258. pp. 32-38.
- Kelly-Corless, L. (2019) ‘Delving into the Unknown: An experience of doing research with d/Deaf prisoners’, Qualitative Inquiry, 26(3). pp. 355-368.
- Froggett, L. Kelly-Corless, L. and Manley, J. (2019) ‘Feeling Real and Rehearsal for Reality: Psychosocial aspects of Forum Theatre in care settings and in prison’, Journal of Psychosocial Studies, 12 (1-2). pp. 23-39.
- Kelly, L. (2017) ‘Suffering in Silence: The unmet needs of d/Deaf prisoners’, Prison Service Journal, November 2017, No 234; lead article [Winner of Prison Service Journal outstanding article of the year 2017].
Use the links below to view their profiles:
- Criminal Justice Partnership
- Principle Investigator (2022-now) British Academy funded project entitled ‘Life after Prison: Return to the Deaf Community, a qualitative study, looking at the lived realities of Deaf people post release from custody.
- Research associate (2018-2019) Creative Leadership and Forum Theatre, a qualitative study evaluating theatre project run with imprisoned people and vulnerable young people.
- PhD: Silent punishment: The experiences of d/Deaf prisoners, University of Central Lancashire, Lancashire
Telephone:+44 (0)1772 893086
Email: Email:Dr Laura Kelly-Corless
Use the links below to view their profiles: