On the 26th February the School of Law and Criminology Research Seminar series welcomed colleagues Dr Cormac Behan to present on ‘The alleged proposals to convert prisons into hotels’: Michael Davitt, Imprisonment, and the Promise of Penal Reform’ with discussant Dr Lynsey Black.
Most penal reform advocates and organisations today critique outmoded penal policies and suggest forward-looking and progressive alternatives. However, the challenges facing today’s penal systems are not new. This seminar analyses the penal reform ideas and activism of Michael Davitt (1846-1906). He spent over a quarter of his adult life in prison and used his experience to critique the penal system and engage with policymakers and politicians at the highest levels of British democracy. Davitt’s interest in penal reform has been neglected in comparison to his other more high-profile social and political activism. This seminar considers Davitt and his contemporary reformers’ ideas in the context of the penal system of the late 19th Century, rather than analysing them through the prism of present-day mores.
Dr Cormac Behan joined the School of Law and Criminology in August 2024. Prior to joining the school, he was a lecturer in criminology at the Technological University Dublin. He has also taught at the University of Sheffield and University College Dublin. Prior to taking up an academic position, Cormac taught history and politics in Irish prisons for fourteen years.