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Conducting Research in Irish Prisons:: A Review

Research has shown the potential of using the accounts of offenders as a first hand data source (Canter and Ioannou, 2004; Synnott, Canter, Youngs and Ioannou, 2015). Although a a large body of literature relating to incarcerated offenders exists, very few publications document or provide guidance concerning the challenges and strategies for researchers conducting studies within prisons (Apa et al., 2012). The aim of this article is to outline the processes involved in carrying out research interviews in prisons. For the purpose of this article the Irish Prison Service (IPS) protocol will be used as an example.