Problem Solving Courts with Lilly Lewis, Dr Alexandria Bradley and Dr Sarah Waite
JUSTICE with prison philanthropist Edwina GrosvenorShow Notes
In this episode our Women’s Involvement Advisor Lilly Lewis explores Problem Solving Courts for women with Dr Alexandria Bradley Senior Lecturer in Criminology, and Dr Sarah Waite Senior Lecturer in Law and Criminology from Leeds Beckett University. Alexandria and Sarah are currently evaluating Greater Manchester’s Problem Solving Court for Women, a community justice initiative Lilly also knows well from her work supporting women in the Manchester area.
The Problem Solving Court in Greater Manchester is a process in which the woman, the courts, probation services and women’s centres work together to support the woman to adhere to her court order and to achieve positive outcomes for herself.
The episode looks at how the approach works and what the evaluation will explore, as well as broader discussions on what a trauma informed community justice system could look like and what support services are needed.
Learn more about Greater Manchester’s Problem Solving court in a blog by Fiona Deacon, Strategic Lead for Women for Greater Manchester Probation: https://www.russellwebster.com/the-greater-manchester-problem-solving-court/
Learn more about the work of Dr Alexandria Bradley here: https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/staff/dr-alexandria-bradley/ and find them on X: @DrAlexandriaB
Learn more about the work of Dr Sarah Waite here: https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/staff/sarah-waite/ and find them on X: @DrSWaite1
Twitter - @OSTCharity This podcast is created and produced by The London Podcast Company Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from JUSTICE with prison philanthropist Edwina Grosvenor
In this episode, we hear from Anouschka Rajah, Research and Analysis Manager at More in Common and joint author of the 2025 Course Correction report on public attitudes to criminal justice. More in Common was founded in the aftermath of the tragic murder of Jo Cox MP in 2016 and carries out public opinion research to inform politicians, policy makers and the media on how communities across the country view major issues facing society, including crime and justice.
In this episode, we hear from Dame Vera Baird about how to harness momentum following the publication of the Women’s Justice Board report in March. Dame Vera explains why she is optimistic for the future of women’s justice and calls for a co-ordinated approach involving multiple government departments and the commitment of key ministers to take reforms forward.
In this episode, Edwina speaks to Jacob Dunne about his journey from prison to becoming a leading voice in criminal justice reform. They talk about his phenomenal memoir Right From Wrong, which was turned into the Olivier award winning play Punch (www.punchtheplay.com) by James Graham (@misterjamesgraham).
In this episode, we hear from Kate Green, Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester responsible for safer and stronger communities. In this discussion, Edwina and Kate explore how Greater Manchester is reshaping its response to domestic abuse and housing. Kate outlines an innovative housing scheme that protects survivors’ priority on social housing lists when they move across Greater Manchester, and new orders that enables survivors to stay in the family home while perpetrators are housed elsewhere.
In this episode, we explore the stigma associated with being a woman in prison with Jules Rowan, the co-host of the Life After Prison podcast. In this discussion Edwina and Jules discuss the barriers women face when they leave prison and the systematic change needed on fundamental issues such as housing for women in contact with the justice system. Jules’ describes her journey from serving a prison sentence to becoming a personal trainer and talks about how the justice system is a scary and lonely place to be at the age of 19 with minimal legal help or understanding of the system. They discuss how important it is to empower women to be able to tell their own story - in order to shift the stigma and re-define their journey - which in so many cases includes childhood trauma, abuse, substance use, lack of support and poverty.