‘You get a headache because you think what’s that pain there all the time?’: The impact of imprisonment on the families of prisoners convicted under Joint Enterprise serving indeterminate sentences

<p dir="ltr">To date, there has been no research conducted on the families of those convicted under the Joint Enterprise doctrine serving indeterminate sentences. By applying semi-structured interviews with 51 prisoners’ families, this study explores the experiences of families of prisoners who are convicted via Joint Enterprise as secondary parties and serving indeterminate sentences. The thesis attempts to examine the additional impact of imprisonment that these families go through because of their loved ones being convicted as a secondary party. The findings of this study show that these families experience further effects of imprisonment solely unique to them. Participants feel the ‘pain of innocence’ due to their family member being convicted of a crime that they did not commit, plan to commit, encourage, or foresee happening. Furthermore, they felt a second type of pain, the ‘pain of abandoned hope’ because of the indeterminate sentence. The findings also showcase the perception of grief experienced by participants as they mourned for someone who was alive but felt dead to them, thus they endure ‘the pain of grief’.</p><p dir="ltr">Moreso, the findings showcase that participants struggled financially over a long time due to the sentence's length and additional costs such as legal fees needed to challenge the Joint Enterprise conviction. The findings expose discrimination experienced by BAME and Muslim participants within wider society and within the confines of the prison. This thesis is unique in arguing that prisoners’ families did not experience a breakdown in relationships; rather, upon conviction they were able to maintain their bond, or their relationship strengthened. Above all, this theory is further distinctive by putting forward a groundbreaking theory entitled the ‘Joint Enterprise Impact Theory’ that allows readers to understand the exact impact that Joint Enterprise has on prisoners’ families.</p>