Inspirational speakers visited Varndean College today as part of a true-life conference about life behind bars in prison. Presented by the organisation ‘Behind Bars’, the conference was attended by 70 Psychology students and their tutors and consisted of released prisoners who have served between 4 and 20 years prison sentences. The released prisoners were from a range of different social backgrounds and had committed various crimes ranging from fraud to murder. Each one spoke explicitly about their individual experiences of prison life, their crime and the psychological effects of labelling and four students were even given the opportunity to demonstrate what it was like to wear prison clothing.

A student at the conference said: “this conference has made me value the educational opportunities which I have had at Varndean College and it has forced me to address my own prejudices.” Jas Badesha, tutor for Psychology said, “this conference has been a means for our students to broaden their knowledge of criminal psychology and test whether the theory matches reality." The conference also marks the launch of Varndean College's new stand-alone Criminology Diploma course beginning in September. Until recently Criminology has been delivered as part of the well-established and popular Psychology, Law and Sociology courses.

For further information, please contact:

Jas Badesha, Programme Leader for Psychology & Criminology, 01273 508011, mailto:jb@varndean.ac.uk
Jackie Francis, Marketing Manager, 01273 546611, mailto:jaf@varndean.ac.uk