Real world learning in criminal justice

Our interdisciplinary Social Policy, Crime and Criminal Justice module brings together students from the University of York and HMP Buckley Hall to engage in a shared learning experience which takes place on the prison site. 

Based on the highly successful ‘Inside-Out’ Prison Exchange project that runs in the USA, the module breaks down barriers created by social division by providing students who are both ‘inside’ (those in custody) and ‘outside’ (those in university) with a unique opportunity to examine the lived experience of prison life and the implications for social welfare.

Sharing their lived experiences and knowledge, the prisoners and students explore the pillars of welfare - education, housing, employment, health and social security - in relation to crime and criminal justice, and collaborate to co-create social policy solutions in a learning environment that is simultaneously comfortable, challenging and capacitating, and which supports future educational engagement.

Find out more about our Social Policy, Crime and Criminal Justice module