The impact of accessing Egyptian art and material culture in prisons

Sally-Ann Ashton,The Fitzwilliam Museum

Ged Murray, 1990

1 High Security and Local NW

2 Cat C training East

3 Cat C training East

4 Cat B training- private East Midlands

5 High Security West Midlands

6 High Security East

7 Cat C training South Central

8 Cat C training East

9 Cat B Local- private East

10 Female- private East

11 Cat C training East

12 Cat B training- private East Midlands

13 Cat B training Kent and Sussex

14 High security Yorkshire and Humberside

15 High Security East

16 Cat B training West Midlands

17 YOI East

18 YOI/HMP London

19 Cat B Local- private West Midlands

20 Remand- private London

21 Cat B East Midlands

Workshops/Lectures

• Art• Literacy, numeracy• Social and life skills• Barbering

• African and Caribbean culture

• ‘Black’ identity • Black History• Black history in

prisons• African-centred

Egyptology

Curriculum based learning

• Working with Black prisoners

• African and Caribbean cultural heritage

• The impact of accessing cultural heritage in prisons

• Cultural awareness

Staff

Art exhibitionsWing-based exhibitionMagazineBooklets

Aims and Objectives

1. To encourage ownership of cultural heritage, in particular for Black and Muslim prisoners, who have a direct link with Egypt through their African and Islamic roots.

2. To create a point of contact with the outside world for long term prisoners and to present a means of sharing culture and knowledge.

3. To provide sustainable educational resources that will stimulate interest amongst people who have had a poor relationship with learning and schooling.

4. To evaluate the impact of teaching African cultural heritage in a prison environment.

5. To disseminate the findings and resources to prisons, education departments and museums.

September 2007-2009

12 prisons 1211 prisoners 167 staff 212 sessions

October 2009-

December 2011

16 prisons 1498 prisoners 135 staff 95 sessions

2012

13 prisons 504 prisoners 18 staff 37 sessions

• Quantitative questionnaires• Qualitative studies• Diary• Letters• Comments after lectures• Focus groups• ‘Before and after’ studies • Longitudinal study

Qualitative Research

• A qualitative study of the impact of cultural heritage programmes on the self-concept of Black male prisoners (Mphil)

• A qualitative survey in a category C prison on attitudes to Black History Month in a prison setting

• A longitudinal study following the release of long-term students with regard to their involvement with heritage and culture

• Focus groups and data analysis for a survey on racism at a category C

prison

• Qualitative interviews relating to African and Caribbean hair in prisons

Impact: a two-way process

• Training

• Trust

• Understanding the environment

• Identifying key issues

• Knowledge transfer