Every year, members of the Prison Working Group of the European Society of Criminology gather to discuss the latest research findings and develop ideas for joint projects. This year’s meeting took place in the springtime city of Timișoara, Romania, and brought together more than 30 prison researchers from various countries. Among the participants were representatives from the Law Institute of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences – Senior Research Fellow Dr. Rūta Vaičiūnienė and Goda Dainauskaitė.
This year’s meeting stood out from previous ones – for the first time in the history of the working group, the event was hosted in a correctional facility. During the meeting, held on April 10–11, 2025, researchers, PhD students, and representatives of NGOs from Romania, Norway, Denmark, Greenland, Belgium, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Israel, Switzerland, and Austria presented their most recent research findings.
The conference featured wide-ranging discussions on topics such as human rights challenges within prison systems, strategies for correctional officers, the role of social workers and chaplains in prisons and their integration into prison staff, the experiences of marginalized social groups in places of detention, and issues related to parenting while incarcerated. Topics particularly relevant to Lithuania were also addressed, including the significance of prison architecture and environment, and the prospects for developing small-scale prison facilities and halfway houses.
Several prison-based programs were also presented during the conference. A Danish researcher introduced a dog training program implemented in prisons and discussed its impact on inmates. Meanwhile, PhD students from Leiden University in the Netherlands led a session on food in prison, providing an overview of prison meal systems – from traditional cafeterias to community-based cooking models.
The second day of the meeting was dedicated to a visit to Timișoara Prison. Correctional officers guided the guests through various parts of the facility, including prisoner living quarters, recreation rooms, the chapel, family meeting areas, and the kitchen. Participants also had the opportunity to sample the meals served to prisoners.
The unique prison setting – with limited access to communication devices and a complete detachment from the outside world – fostered deeper engagement in academic discussions and exploration of new opportunities for collaboration. The environment proved to be a productive space not only for sharing research ideas but also for initiating new international partnerships and discussing possibilities for internships and joint project development.