Lucy Baldwin

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Professional Biography
I recently retired from my role as an Associate professor at Durham University though remain a research fellow at Durham. I was previously Senior Lecturer and Researcher at De Montfort University for almost 19 years. I have worked in criminal and social justice for over 35 years and am also a qualified social worker and probation officer. I have worked and researched both in the community, in courts and in prison. I remain an activist researcher and criminal justice consultant.
My research and publications focus predominantly on the impact of imprisonment on mothers, and their children in and after prison. I have presented nationally and internationally on the importance of working positively and compassionately with mothers in criminal and social justice systems, and I am working with criminal justice partners to design, develop and deliver resources for criminalised mothers.
My research has influenced policy and practice, at local and national levels in the UK. I was invited to provide evidence from my research to the research Female Offender Strategy, the Female Focussed Farmer Review (2019) and the Joint Human rights Committee Inquiry into Maternal Imprisonment (2020).
I have written programmes and guidance that are implemented within the prison and probation systems throughout the UK. My ‘Mothers Inside Out’ (MIA) programme was adopted by Pact (prison Advice and Care Trust) and is now accredited with Skills for Justice and is in the process of being rolled out across the female estate. Additionally I have produced the first guidance for probation staff to use in the supervision of mothers, now available nationally and to all supervisors, via the probation service intranet. I have also designed resources for officers to use in their supervision with mothers, which have now been adopted by new ‘First Steps to Change’ probation programme as part of the tool kit for working with women under supervision. My research has led to positive changes in mothering related criminal justice practice and to the development of prison and community-based programmes for mothers, which are now accredited, licensed and being rolled out across UK women’s prisons. In addition I provide regular training to prison and probation staff in relation to working positively and effectively with mothers.
Furthermore, I regularly by invitation, undertake the role of ‘expert witness’ in relation Court proceedings concerning mothers. A previous trustee of 'Women's breakout', and 'Children Heard and Seen' and the charity New Dawn New day (NDND), a charity working with criminalised women in Leicestershire. I also work closely with key stakeholders in the third sector and am active in my hopes for positive change.

Most Recent Publications
Baldwin, L. (July 2022). Mothers in and After Prison. Sherfield on Lodden, Waterside Press.
Baldwin, L. ed. (2023) Gendered Justice; Working positively with women in criminal and social justice settings. Sherfield on Lodden, Waterside Press.
Baldwin, L. Abbott, L. (2023) Pregnancy and New Motherhood in Prison. Bristol University Press.
Baldwin, L. (2022) Missed and Lost Opportunities: Recognising Maternal Trauma in Probation Supervision. Probation Quarterly. Issue 23: 16- 20. https://doi.org/10.54006/TDRY6231