Criminal Classes

Angela Devlin is a writer, broadcaster and exponent of prisoners' rights whose work has attracted wide interest and acclaim: Criminal Classes (Waterside Press, 1995), Prison Patter: A Dictionary of Prison Slang (Waterside Press, 1996); Anybody's Nightmare: The Sheila Bowler Story (Taverner Publications, 1998), Going Straight After Crime and Punishment with Bob Turney (Waterside Press, 1999) and Cell Mates/Soul Mates (Waterside Press, 2002). Anybody's Nightmare, the true story of a wrongful conviction for murder, was later dramatised for ITV and featured the character 'Angela Devlin' campaigning for the case to be re-opened (The conviction was eventually quashed and the defendant acquitted after a new trial).

A classic work, Criminal Classes comprises recollections by offenders of their schooldays together with a commentary by the author. It was praised from the outset and has been reprinted several times in response to demand. A wealth of information for criminologists, sociologists and educationalists is contained in this book: New Kids on the Block: Offenders affected by multiple and fragmented schooling. Odd One Out: Special needs that went unnoticed. No Place Like Home: The Effects of Social Disadvantage. Teachers - Good, Bad and Boring: How teachers and head teachers can influence and intervene.; Bullies: Causes and effects of bullying at school. Wagging and Sagging Bunking and Skiving: Truanting and offending. Mates: Peer group influences. Spare the Rod: Punishment and exclusion from school. Gold Stars: The importance of motivation, success, praise and reward.; Picking Up the Pieces: What can be done at school to limit future offending? Some practical suggestions.Reviews:'This book is of considerable public importance on a subject which calls for attention. I believe that in prison life the status of education needs to be raised for the high percentage of offenders who have failed at school and come from broken families, and are soon to be discharged into the community': Sir Stephen Tumim, former HM Chief Inspector of Prisons.'If you are in any doubt about the links between poor education, crime and recidivism, read it': Marcel Berlins, The Guardian.Author:Angela Devlin spent 25 years teaching children with special needs in Scotland, London, Kent and Sussex, and later specialised in specific learning disabilities. She was educated in Wales and at Oxford University and is married with four grown up children. Her other books include Going Straight: After Crime and Punishment with Bob Turney, Prison Patter, Invisible Women: What's Wrong With Women's Prisons and Cell Mates: Soul Mates. She has also published Anybody's Nightmare: The Sheila Bowler Story with her husband Tim Devlin (Taverner Publications, 1998). All Angela's works possess the same probing, analytical approach and are enormously readable.