Empowering people in prison through sport SSEHS/CM

This collaborative PhD opportunity is supported by the 3Pillars Project which is a not-for-profit Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). 3Pillars Project launched a new 5-year strategy to grow and share their work in summer 2024. In addition, they were granted £300,000 by the National Lottery Community Fund to deliver their GAMEPLAN intervention over five-years in several prisons across the Midlands. The aim for 3Pillars is to be able to evidence the impact of their work over the duration of the project given the complexities that exist in delivering both growth and impact.

GAMEPLAN engages people in prison through sport with extensive follow on and post release mentoring support using the core pillars of exercise, education, and ethos as a foundation for effective rehabilitation. The approach utilises positive role models, sport, and the power of community to equip young men with a toolkit of skills to forge a brighter future. A core strand of the implementation of the 5 Year Strategy is demonstration of the impact of the work in order to advocate more broadly within the sector.

Undertaking this study offers an opportunity for the PhD student to work with 3Pillars to develop, trial and innovate more effective ways for third sector sports organisations to critically examine their work and support them to evidence their successes (and failures) in ways that are more nuanced and that challenge existing practice, stimulate critical thinking, and push knowledge forward. In so doing the study will contribute to enhancing the SDP sector to demonstrate its effectiveness more robustly. Intersectionality, and in particular intersections between masculinity, race and socio-economic status will be a primary focus within this study.

The study will be primarily qualitative and involve spending time in both community and prison settings alongside 3Pillars staff and volunteers.

94% of Loughborough’s research impact is rated world-leading or internationally excellent. REF 2021

Supervisors

Primary supervisor: Dr Carolynne Mason

Secondary supervisors: Dr Chris Kay and Dr Nik Dickerson

Entry requirements:

Students will normally need to hold, or expect to gain, at least a 2:1 degree (or equivalent) in Sociology, Psychology, Criminology or similar. A relevant social science master’s degree and/or experience in one or more of the following will be an advantage: Sport for Development, Third Sector/Non-Profit Sports Organisations, Qualitative Research Methods.

How to apply

All applications should be made online. Under programme name, select the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences. Please quote the advertised reference number: SSEHS/CM in your application.

To avoid delays in processing your application, please ensure that you submit the minimum supporting documents.

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