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The closure of HMP Holloway in 2016 was a shocking event for women housed within its walls and workers across the prison, including therapists from “outside”, and the criminal justice and mental health staff within. It marked the ending of an era within which a culture of thoughtful enquiry and hope had been established in one of the United Kingdom's largest and most deprived institutions. The End of the Sentence is a compelling, nuanced, and disturbing response to the shock of the prison's unexpected closure, announced abruptly, without apparent awareness of the impact on the women or staff working at HMP Holloway. As one of its editors, Jessica Collier describes, “The idea to create this book came very quickly, as an almost intuitive response to the shock and anger elicited in us by the sudden decision to close HMP Holloway” (p. 1).
This important volume, within the excellent Forensic Psychotherapy Monograph Series edited by Brett Kahr, brings the work of forensic psychotherapy at HMP Holloway to life. It highlights the rich, sensitive, and challenging psychotherapeutic work that has engaged some of the most traumatised and vulnerable women in society, those incarcerated in women's prisons (Corston, 2007; 2017). The authors' combined voices allow us to hear the voices of the women imprisoned within, and tell their stories in stark, painful, but unexpectedly beautiful ways, creating visceral imprints of the lives the women have led. Despite the brutality of much of the women's lives, and the harshness of the systems within which they have found themselves, the work described is hopeful, testifying to the possibility of change and growth.
The authors in this volume describe the multi-layered difficulties of continuing to work in an institution that will soon close, scattering its inhabitants across other prisons, and the impact on both therapist and client. They confront the pain that working with this “death threat” entails. The editors have dedicated this volume to