Julie-Anne Toohey is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. Key areas of research include the importance of maintaining connections between incarcerated parents and their children, and the lived experiences of incarcerated women with cognitive disabilities. Her research has taken place in a number of prisons throughout Australia, and privileges the voices of incarcerated people. Julie-Anne has taught Criminology at the University of Tasmania, the University of South Australia, and Flinders University, and has been part of research teams associated with the Criminology Research Unit at the University of Tasmania and the Crime and Policy Research Unit at Flinders University. She completed her PhD in Criminology through the University of Adelaide.
This fascinating book provides vital insights into the terrible and exclusionary world of the criminal justice-cognitive disability nexus, and the people at its centre. Providing a platform for hiterto voiceless women, Julie-Anne Toohey challenges us to radically change or abolish institutions that mostly serve to deepen the pain, suffering and abuse of the vulnerable. Prison research of this nature is rare. Yet, amongst the sadness and despair is resilience and hope, and this, too, is a crucial message of this powerful book. Rob White Distinguished Professor of Criminology, University of Tasmania, Australia