Section 2 life‐sentenced prisoners: an exploratory study

This paper reports the findings of an initial exploratory study of the section 2 life‐sentenced prisoner population within one large prison in the south of England. Data were collected on 18 section 2 life‐sentenced individuals within the prison population and analysed to identify significant differences between those sentenced for ‘acquisitive’ offences and those sentenced for an offence of ‘violence’.Violent offenders were significantly more likely to have a higher level of violent previous convictions. Both groups were observed to have a high percentage of adjudications for anti‐social behaviour in prison. Importantly, those convicted of an offence of violence were perceived as being at significantly higher risk of suicide and self injury than were those convicted of an acquisitive offence. There was also an elevated level of drug‐related adjudications within the acquisitive offender group. Implications of these findings for practice are discussed.