Criminal: Real-Life Stories of the People Trapped in our Failing Justice System

by Angela Kirwin

Paperback

Published May 25, 2023

About the author

A working class kid from Manchester. One of her earliest childhood memories is having a placard balanced on her lap, being wheeled along in her pushchair, as her mum protested the closure of the local children’s hospital. Along with her mum and sister, she became a teenage carer for her grandmother who suffered with dementia. It was this experience that propelled her, aged 16, into her first social care job.

With over 10 years experience in the social care sector, Angela specialised in working in dual diagnosis, homelessness, mental health and substance misuse. She has guest lectured at the University of Bristol on these topics.

In 2015, she received a Churchill Fellowship and travelled to the USA and Norway to research innovative approaches to crime and punishment.

Combining her BA(hons) in Politics & Modern History and an MSc in Social Work with her work experience, Angela now writes about social issues, with a particular interest in prison reform, the criminal justice system, mental health, ADHD and neurodiversity.

Her debut non-fiction, Criminal - How Our Prisons Are Failing Us All, will be released in paperback on 25th May 2023. She is represented by Matilda Forbes-Watson at WME.

Reviews

[Caitlin Scarffe-Brookes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This literally left me speechless - speaks for everything I believe in and reminds me why I seek to make lives of those in the criminal justice system better. Next time someone asks me why I do my job I will absolutely be recommending this book…or just telling everyone about it with no prompts

[Jess Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overwhelming issues with the justice/prison system illustrated through the stories of its users. Shows crime as a societal failing by looking at the care - prison pipeline, addiction and homelessness figures and overall was absolutely FASCINATING

[Paul Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just incredibly good. Superbly written and absolutely polemical about the shameful state of the British criminal justice system, especially the conditions inside our prisons. It’s told with incredible empathy and thoughtfulness and really shows the waste of time and money and potential the UK government has created, and the hardship and suffering it has created, by failing to think properly about prison. The author really humanises the criminals at the centre of the story without romanticising them or their minimising their crimes. I’ve read an awful lot of first-person books by practitioners in various failing parts of the British public realm (police officers, lawyers, teachers, etc) and this is one of the best.

[skye h · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly heartbreaking novel, but so eye opening. Would definitely recommend to read this.