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Professor Helen Johnston's Outputs (40)

Holloway Prison: Representations and realities in the history of a women's prison, 1902 to 1955 (2025)
Journal Article
Johnston, H. (2025). Holloway Prison: Representations and realities in the history of a women's prison, 1902 to 1955. Women & Criminal Justice,

This article explores the media and cultural representations of HMP Holloway, London, England between 1902 and 1955 and contrasts this with the realities of the day-to-day female population and experience in the institution. Drawing on extensive hist... Read More about Holloway Prison: Representations and realities in the history of a women's prison, 1902 to 1955.

The Long-Term Imprisonment of Women: Penal servitude and release of female offenders serving long sentences, 1853-1900 (2024)
Journal Article
Johnston, H. (online). The Long-Term Imprisonment of Women: Penal servitude and release of female offenders serving long sentences, 1853-1900. Criminology & criminal Justice, https://doi.org/10.1177/17488958241298502

This article explores the experiences and impact of long-term imprisonment on the lives of women sentenced to lengthy periods of incarceration (serving at least one sentence of ten-years or more) in the mid to late nineteenth century in England and W... Read More about The Long-Term Imprisonment of Women: Penal servitude and release of female offenders serving long sentences, 1853-1900.

Prisoner Health and Well-Being in Historical Perspective, 1850-1900: Exploring Experiences of Illness and Disability in the Victorian Convict System (2024)
Journal Article
Turner, J., & Johnston, H. (online). Prisoner Health and Well-Being in Historical Perspective, 1850-1900: Exploring Experiences of Illness and Disability in the Victorian Convict System. Journal of Criminal Law, https://doi.org/10.1177/00220183241278094

Using historical and archival methodological approaches, this article provides an interdisciplinary empirical study of health experiences of prisoners in the Victorian convict prison in England and Wales. It explores the challenges of doing historica... Read More about Prisoner Health and Well-Being in Historical Perspective, 1850-1900: Exploring Experiences of Illness and Disability in the Victorian Convict System.

"Freedom is a constant struggle”: Women’s journeys after modern slavery in the United Kingdom (2024)
Thesis
Nghishitende, N. J. "Freedom is a constant struggle”: Women’s journeys after modern slavery in the United Kingdom. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4867012

This thesis provides insights into the journeys of women who have left situations classified as modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT) and are remodelling their lives in the UK. Employing critical methodologies, this thesis utilises narrative an... Read More about "Freedom is a constant struggle”: Women’s journeys after modern slavery in the United Kingdom.

Punishment in Britain in the Twentieth Century (2023)
Book Chapter
Johnston, H. (2023). Punishment in Britain in the Twentieth Century. In P. Lawrence (Ed.), A Global History of Crime and Punishment in the Modern Age: Volume 6 (145-164). Bloomsbury Publishing

Penal Servitude: Convicts and long-term imprisonment, 1853-1948 (2022)
Book
Johnston, H., Godfrey, B., & Cox, D. J. (2022). Penal Servitude: Convicts and long-term imprisonment, 1853-1948. McGill-Queen's University Press

Penal Servitude is the first comprehensive study to examine the convict prison system that housed all those sentenced to penal servitude during this time. The research details the administration and evolution of the system, from its creation in the 1... Read More about Penal Servitude: Convicts and long-term imprisonment, 1853-1948.

Corrupting and saving: Moral contamination, prison education and prison history (2021)
Journal Article
Johnston, H. (2021). Corrupting and saving: Moral contamination, prison education and prison history. Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 60(S1), 109-118. https://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12434

This article examines the ways in which prison has been seen as both a ‘school of crime’ and a school of reform; a place for potential further corruption, or through education in prison, a route away from criminality. It explores the methods used, si... Read More about Corrupting and saving: Moral contamination, prison education and prison history.

'It was like an animal in pain': Institutional thoughtlessness and bereavement in prison (2020)
Journal Article
Wilson, M., Johnston, H., & Walker, L. (in press). 'It was like an animal in pain': Institutional thoughtlessness and bereavement in prison. Criminology & criminal Justice, https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895820930755

Using the concept of institutional thoughtlessness, this article examines a range of issues embedded within daily prison life which have a detrimental effect upon the lives of those bereaved during a prison sentence. Drawing on in-depth qualitative r... Read More about 'It was like an animal in pain': Institutional thoughtlessness and bereavement in prison.

Gender and release from imprisonment: Convict licensing systems in mid to late 19th century England (2020)
Book Chapter
Johnston, H., & Cox, D. (2020). Gender and release from imprisonment: Convict licensing systems in mid to late 19th century England. In M. Van der Heijden, M. Pluskota, & S. Muurling (Eds.), Women's Criminality in Europe, 1600-1914 (134-147). Cambridge University Press (CUP). https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108774543.007

This paper draws on the research undertaken into the lives and prison experiences of around 650 male and female convicts who were released on licence (an early form of parole) from sentences of long term imprisonment (three years to life) in England... Read More about Gender and release from imprisonment: Convict licensing systems in mid to late 19th century England.

Capital punishment, 1700-1934 : a case study of Hull (2019)
Thesis
Harrison, T. P. Capital punishment, 1700-1934 : a case study of Hull. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4269960

[From the introduction:]
This thesis explores capital punishment from 1700-1934 in one English locality, Hull. A series of questions are addressed throughout this dissertation in order to understand the role of the criminal justice system in Hull. T... Read More about Capital punishment, 1700-1934 : a case study of Hull.

The dynamics of contemporary slavery and conflict : agency, asylum and accountability (2018)
Thesis
Kidd, A. S. The dynamics of contemporary slavery and conflict : agency, asylum and accountability. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4221343

This thesis offers a new approach to understanding contemporary slavery by focusing on the root causes rather than on the end result of the enslavement. Adopting this approach allows for a move away from the current tendency of homogenising victims o... Read More about The dynamics of contemporary slavery and conflict : agency, asylum and accountability.

Punishment: Incarceration and the death penalty (2018)
Book Chapter
Johnston, H. (2018). Punishment: Incarceration and the death penalty. In D. Nash, & A.-M. Kilday (Eds.), Murder and Mayhem: Crime in Twentieth Century Britain (243-270). Palgrave Macmillan

Imprisoned mothers in Victorian England, 1853–1900: Motherhood, identity and the convict prison (2018)
Journal Article
Johnston, H. (2019). Imprisoned mothers in Victorian England, 1853–1900: Motherhood, identity and the convict prison. Criminology & criminal Justice, 19(2), 215-231. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895818757833

This article explores the experiences of imprisoned mothers in the Victorian convict prison system. It argues that motherhood, of central importance to the ideals of Victorian femininity, was disrupted and fractured by women's long-term imprisonment... Read More about Imprisoned mothers in Victorian England, 1853–1900: Motherhood, identity and the convict prison.

'Convict Prisons', 'Local Prisons' and 'Prison Reform' (2017)
Book Chapter
Johnston, H. (2017). 'Convict Prisons', 'Local Prisons' and 'Prison Reform'. In J. Turner, P. Taylor, S. Morley, & K. Corteen (Eds.), A Companion to the History of Crime and Criminal Justice. Policy Press

Prison Histories, 1770s-1950s: Continuities and contradictions (2016)
Book Chapter
Johnston, H. (2016). Prison Histories, 1770s-1950s: Continuities and contradictions. In Y. Jewkes, B. Crewe, & J. Bennett (Eds.), Handbook on Prisons (24-38). (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315797779

The stated aims of imprisonment became markedly less ambitious when the confidence that characterized the 19th-century reform movement was displaced by a realization that places of confinement – no matter how well designed or humanely intentioned. In... Read More about Prison Histories, 1770s-1950s: Continuities and contradictions.

An inquiry into adult male prisoners' experiences of education (2016)
Thesis
Nichols, H. An inquiry into adult male prisoners' experiences of education. (Thesis). University of Hull. https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4218906

Offender learning policy in England and Wales is vocationally focused and thus primarily aims to educate prisoners to increase their employability. Through an analysis of letters written by prisoners and interviews with serving prisoners, ex prisoner... Read More about An inquiry into adult male prisoners' experiences of education.

Female prisoners, aftercare and release : residential provision and support in late nineteenth century England (2015)
Journal Article
Johnston, H., & Turner, J. (2015). Female prisoners, aftercare and release : residential provision and support in late nineteenth century England. British journal of community justice : BJCJ, 13(3), 35-50

This article examines the release and aftercare of female prisoners in England during the late nineteenth century. Primarily it seeks to illuminate the use of residential provision for women who had been released from both convict and local prisons,... Read More about Female prisoners, aftercare and release : residential provision and support in late nineteenth century England.