About the team

Dr Maria Adams
Associate Professor in Criminology

Biography

Maria Adams is a Associate Professor in Criminology. She has conducted extensive research into prison, justice system and family life. Much of her research has focused on issues related to prison, social inequalities and social injustices. Maria is very excited about leading on this project- this is such an important topic for women incarcerated and will have a strong contribution to improving policy and practice surrounding food and prison.

Dr Vicki Harman
Professor in Sociology, University of Reading

Biography

Vicki Harman is a Professor in Sociology in the Department of Politics, University of Reading. She has conducted extensive research into food practices and food consumption, particularly within family life. Much of her research has focused on social identities and social inequalities such as gender, social class and ethnicity, and how these intersect to shape food practices. In addition to this, she has recently been part of a project which ran art workshops in women’s refuges. Vicki is looking forward to the creative and visual strand of the ‘Doing Porridge’ project. She is particularly excited about the art workshops and working with Koestler Trust to facilitate an art exhibition on taste, food and eating in prisons.

Professor Jon Garland
Professor of Criminology

Biography

Jon Garland is Professor of Criminology in the Department of Sociology, University of Surrey. He has conducted extensive research into hate crime, far-right groups, racism in rural and isolated areas of England, policing, and racism, anti-racism and disorder in football. Jon is very excited about the Doing Porridge project, and feels it can make a meaningful and long-lasting contribution to improving the lives of incarcerated women.

Professor Dan McCarthy
Professor of Criminology

Biography

Dan McCarthy has research interests across areas of prisons and punishment, including more recent work on cross-national understandings of punishment with respect to the death penalty. He is especially interested in the impact which imprisonment has on prisoners, and groups outside including family members and neighbourhoods. Food is such a fundamental part of society and public health at large, even more so for some of our most vulnerable in society – women in prison being one such group. I am excited about learning more about the experiences which women have with food in the prison context.

Talitha Brown

Research Associate, University of Glasgow

Biography

Talitha Brown has recently submitted her thesis, which explored the narratives of young people with care-experience who encountered Scottish projects that aimed to “transform lives”. More specifically, she considered the sense of recognition, the emotional labour and the respectability politics involved within these projects. Her previous research experiences explored the how women with convictions experienced non-statutory services that aimed to support them in terms of their “employability”. She is excited to be part of the Doing Porridge team and loves to think about food, experiences of food, qualitative methods, and intersectional research.