Marion was awarded a PhD scholarship in 2014 by Hull University to better understand male prisoners’ experiences of bereavement. Following her studies, she undertook a range of roles situated within the country’s largest bereavement charity. Marion co-wrote a successful funding bid to pilot a tiered framework of bereavement support across eight prisons (male Category B, C and D, female open and closed). This was obtained through the MoJ/HMPPS Innovation fund. Marion managed the project, which included one-to-one and group support, psychoeducational sessions, and developing and setting up bereavement peer support.
Marion has research interests in prisoners’ stressors and associated means of coping, the impact of peer support, group support and bereavement.
As a Research Associate on the Addressing Mental Health in Custody: a Brief Learning Environment (AMICABLE) project, Marion is involved in undertaking qualitative research across four prison sites. The project has been set up to develop and evaluate a peer-led problem support mentor scheme, which sits within the Forensic Mental Health research theme.