Criminology Researchers (Hansard, 8 February 1994)

§ Lord James Douglas-Hamilton

[holding answer 3 February 1994]: I have asked the chief executive of the Scottish Prison Service, Mr. E. W. Frizzell, to reply.

Letter from Mr. E. Frizzell to Mr. John McFall, dated 7 February 1994: Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your Question about the policy on the granting of permission to criminology researchers to interview prisoners. All requests for access to prisons for the purposes of conducting research are dealt with by Scottish Prison Service Headquarters. A substantial number of these involve requests to interview prisoners or have prisoners complete questionnaires. The merits of such requests are considered against a number of criteria: relevance to the programme of Ministerially approved and published criminological research priorities; congruence with the interests of the Scottish Prison Service; the possible security implications of the proposed work; the value of the research to the advancement of criminological understanding; and the likely cost in terms of staff time and possible disruption which the research may have on the operations of specific establishments. In addition, a professional commentary on the methodology of the research proposal is supplied by criminologists from the Central Research Unit of The Scottish Office Home and Health Department. Access is granted only in those cases where the research proposal satisfies some or all of these criteria. If granted access, researchers must sign an undertaking that they will adhere to the code of ethical guidelines of their profession or discipline (eg the British Psychological Society or the Social Research Association) and, if appropriate, receive approval from the Ethics Committee of the local Area Health Board. It is a requirement of any access that all prisoners approached are given the opportunity to decline to be interviewed and that all material gained during the interview is confidential and will be treated anonymously.