Andy Aresti is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Westminster. He works with a variety of non-statutory organizations working in criminal justice. Andy’s primary research focus is on desistance from criminalized acts and the detailed exploration of former prisoners’ experiences of self-change. As a former prisoner himself, and having lived a ‘colourful life’ prior to his academic career, Andy has had first-hand experience of ‘crime’ and the criminal justice system. Committed to penal reform and desistance, he is actively involved in a number of projects which aim to improve the lives of those currently incarcerated through education in prisons. He is a founding member of British Convict Criminology, a relatively new critical perspective that challenges traditional conceptualizations, representations, and discussions concerning ‘crime’, the penal system, and prisoners.
Sacha Darke
Sacha Darke is Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Westminster and is a Visiting Lecturer at the University of São Paulo. His teaching and research focus on Convict Criminology, prisons, and state crime, as well as comparative and transnational criminal justice. He is currently involved in research projects on the use and experience of imprisonment in Brazil, and the internationalization of Convict Criminology (with Andreas Aresti and Jeffrey Ian Ross). With Andreas Aresti, he delivers academic mentoring for prisoners and criminology programmes at HMP Pentonville, HMP Grendon and HMP Coldingley.
