The positive impacts of custodial parkrun for women in prison
Last year, parkrun reported on research findings from His Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS) highlighting the benefits of parkrun on men in custody. The research, published in the Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice, showed how engaging in parkrun in prison confers a range of advantages both for the men and the prisons too.
Now, another piece of research has been published in the Journal of Forensic Practice, this time focusing on women in custody and their experiences of parkrun. The findings are similarly optimistic with a great deal of crossover, but also reflect some of the different issues that men and women in prison face.
Additionally, the newly published research paper discusses how the strong collaborative partnership between parkrun and HMPPS, which enables the delivery of custodial parkrun events, led each Saturday morning by prison staff and supported by parkrun, has also enhanced the ongoing evaluation of the custodial parkrun initiative. This evaluation is crucial given how important it is to scrutinise the effectiveness of different aspects of our public services.
parkrun are therefore delighted to be able to share the findings which illustrate that parkrun in a women’s prison has been considered a huge success in terms of the impact on the women who run, walk or volunteer there. So much so, that since the research interviews were completed, parkrun is now a regular feature at another two prisons for women in England, expanding the positive benefits to even more women in the custodial estate.
The research team, HMPPS psychologists, undertook interviews with 15 women in a prison where parkrun was available, the aim being to understand why they participated in parkrun, and how they experienced it. The psychologist researchers are experienced in supportive interview techniques which meant the women were comfortable in talking about their thoughts, feelings and perceptions. This meant that the interview data was richly detailed and enabled a robust qualitative analysis. The psychologists also ensured neutrality by asking the women for any negative impacts as well as positive.
There were four key areas which women discussed as being the key benefits of parkrun in custody:
1. Improved mental and physical health
The women explained how parkrun improved their physical health and fitness, which isn’t a great surprise, but is an important finding as women in prison haven’t always focused on a healthy lifestyle and are less likely to have engaged in exercise previously.
More striking was how parkrun is helping to ameliorate some core wellbeing issues for women in prison. The women talked about parkrun helping them better manage their negative thoughts, mental health and self-harm, a key finding given these issues are more prevalent for women in custody than for either men in custody or women in the community. parkrun also boosted their self-esteem and confidence. Some women told the researchers that parkrun helped them emotionally, and offered an alternative, or an add-on, to their prescriptions:
“To me, it’s like medicine…I would love it if we could do it more often”.
One of the women said that during the covid lockdown she had felt really depressed and had ended up on medication, but now, “parkrun makes me happy. I feel like I’m buzzing afterwards. I feel like I’m so full of energy and so happy”.
The women felt more confident about exercising. Any self-esteem issues, or any self-conscious concerns they had about their appearance or performance during other activities, mattered less at parkrun, due to the supportive and non-judgemental ethos created by staff and their peers, which extended a warm welcome to everyone, regardless of how they looked or how fast they were.
The outdoor setting within the prison grounds also contributed to parkrun’s appeal, helping participants appreciate nature and live in the moment. Prisoners spend a great deal of time indoors and parkrun instilled a sense of freedom, without requiring any special exercise equipment.
2. Positive relationships: now and in the future
Perceptions that parkrun facilitated connections with others was a strong theme. Women talked about how parkrun strengthened their relationships with other women in the prison and additionally, how it broke down barriers with staff, such as describing how officers had encouraged them to start parkrun and to keep on going when they were finding it tough.
Family support can help women successfully re-enter society, so we were interested in the finding that some women’s families parkrun at the same time as the women, sometimes hundreds of miles away, which seemingly helped them form a stronger bond:
“parkrun has improved my relationship with my son … my son is into sports and he knows fitness, and it’s something that he’s proud of, that he can do parkrun with his mummy”.
parkrun built a sense of community and a shared identity amongst the women who engaged. Women felt a sense of belonging and considered parkrun as a friendly, welcoming community they could join on release:
“parkrun provides, I would say something that you can be part of in the future as well. You know, it is, it is that little community of parkrunners … it’s like a little, little family. We are family”.
3. Sense of purpose
parkrun gave women who ran or volunteered a strong sense of purpose. It gave them an opportunity to set targets and strive towards achieving them which engendered a sense of pride, confidence and motivation.
“I love sharing my results and my times with my friends and my boyfriend. I’ll phone up, ‘you’ll never guess what I’ve don’t this week?’, and be like, ‘I’ve been and knocked another minute off!”
Women recognised that parkrun was having a longer-term impact in working towards pro-social goals and engaging in constructive pastimes. A focus on sporting goals can help build a pro-social identity which is a central part of a crime free future.
“I am taking this seriously. I’m committed to it. I’m devoted to it now … I think the long-term effects could be, like, just increased motivation over time. Perhaps not revert to prison. Just having something positive to do, like in the community when I go out”.
4. Stabiliser / destabiliser
This theme reflects the positive function parkrun had in stabilising the women’s prison experience. It gave women the chance to do a ‘normal’ activity – walking or running – which can be relatively unusual in prison.
“There’s something there about that it’s just a stability and support. It’s an anchor if you like … I think it’s nothing but a godsend. I really do”.
Conversely, when parkrun had to be cancelled, primarily due to staffing issues, it hit some women hard and caused disappointment and had a destabilising effect.
The HMPPS psychologists who undertook the research wanted to understand the factors that led to the women being such keen parkrunners in custody, and what was it that led to them want to keep parkrunning when they were released. An analysis of the findings in the context of the existing literature base led to the conclusion that the women were describing three factors which significantly increased their enjoyment in parkrun, factors which are central to being motivated to do something and which enhance wellbeing.
According to Self-Determination Theory, the three crucial factors are a sense of connection to others, autonomy (to run, walk or volunteer in this case), and a sense of mastery, or feeling confident and being able to achieve goals. People who experience these three factors are more likely to continue on exercise programmes and to feel good about it, which helps explain why parkrun is so popular amongst women in custody.
As with the research into the men in prison who parkrun, these new findings indicate that parkrun enhanced connections with others, improved mental and physical health and wellbeing, and gave participants a constructive activity which enabled goal setting and a positive focus, helping them cope in a prison setting.
These factors are likely to support prisoners’ rehabilitative journeys, and additionally, parkrun is likely to support the type of healthy environments that prisons focus on developing, one in which positive change is encouraged and supported. parkrun also offered aspects which naturally facilitated women’s engagement, such as the inclusive ethos and social support helping to overcome any self-esteem issues or concerns about how others might view them.
The research has made recommendations to prison leaders which, if taken up, will help extend the benefits of parkrun to the most vulnerable women in custody, so as to help all women who would benefit from greater confidence, better wellbeing, increased connections to others and feeling more stabilised in prison, be it just for now, or with lasting benefits:
“Just being in the moment, I’m running to embrace the fresh air and be mindful of the beautiful scenery and the trees, flowers, and the greenery, the grass. I look up I see the beautiful sky, and it just gives me a sense of awareness”.
parkrun in custody is funded and the partnership supported at a strategic level by the Physical Education, Activity & Training Team (Health & Wellbeing Division) and at an operational level by Physical Education Instructors in HMPPS. Find out more about custodial estate parkruns here.
Lisa Edmondson, Chartered Forensic Psychologist – HMPPS
Please note participation at custodial parkrun events is via authorised invitation only. Please refrain from contacting any custodial parkrun event teams directly.
Help set up more parkruns on custodial estates and make a positive, lasting difference for women in prison. Find out how here.
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