| Summary: | <p>Past research has demonstrated that a wrongful conviction imposes on its victims significant unjust harms, rendering it a traumatic experience. However, far less is known about what can be done to help the wrongfully convicted try to recover from this trauma and repair their lives once a conviction is overturned. This is particularly so in England and Wales, where there has been little empirical work on the lives of the wrongfully convicted to date. </p> <p>Adopting a narrative criminological approach, this thesis fills the empirical and theoretical gap in the literature on wrongful convictions in England and Wales. It explores the lived experiences of those who have had a conviction quashed by the Court of Appeal at the final possible opportunity: after a referral from the Criminal Cases Review Commission (or, prior to that, the Home Secretary) or an appeal out-of-time. The thesis draws on interview data, as well as data gathered from client files of the only State sanctioned support organisation for the wrongfully convicted in England and Wales: the Miscarriages of Justice Support Service. </p> <p>Using a framework of trauma and its impact on a persons’ identity, the thesis seeks to further explore the impacts of wrongful convictions on various aspects of people’s identities, including the emotional, social, reintegrative and financial impacts, following their journeys after their conviction is quashed. In doing so, it considers why wrongful convictions are so traumatic: it demonstrates how wrongful convictions can dislocate identities, which imposes almost impossible difficulties for those faced with rebuilding their lives after a conviction is quashed by the Court of Appeal. Conclusions are drawn from the narratives as to efficacy of post-exoneration support currently provided in England and Wales, and suggestions are made for how that might be improved to better repair the harms caused by wrongful convictions.</p>
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