As someone with no background in psychology, I cannot comment on any of the technical aspects of this book; however, I found the contents fascinating. This is the account of Dr Rebecca Myers, a newly qualified psychologist finding her feet in her first post working with offenders. I enjoyed reading from the perspective of a qualified psychologist who has worked within prisons and found myself at times empathising so much that her descriptions of feeling uncomfortable, made me feel the same way. This isn't an easy read in terms of the content, be prepared for some pretty horrendous descriptions of crimes that the prisoners have committed and their own, in some cases equally horrific, back stories. It is interesting though, I can't help but wonder what became of many of these offenders. If you're interested in true crime and psychology, this is definitely worth a read.

Im not sure if I like this book or not. It took me a long time to read and I found it very uncomfortable reading- expected given the subject matter. I do study psychology so it was interesting but the tone of writing was inconsistent to me

An interesting insight into the debate on nature nurture of sexual offenders. A step by step account of the life of a young female psychologist in a male prison. It will send shivers down your back as this is real life.

Hate to review when I didn't finish the book but Netgalley lower your stats if you don't.
I enjoyed this book up to a point. It started of an intriguing, tense story but I got bored when the author started talking about her teenage years. I did keep reading and found it interesting learning about the work environment in the prison in the 90s. But I found the style inconsistent, one minute it reads like an interesting story like you are there and next it's like reading a report of what happened. Especially when the author details the prisoners she was working with. I couldn't read on after this even though it seemed interesting (if disturbing role playing the crimes) I just didn't find it compeling enough.
Maybe I'd try again in future now I know what to expect.

Then there's a section on her training of role playing sex offenses to help treat the offenders.

At once fascinating and appalling . This book takes no prisoners (no pun intended)when discussing the habits and behaviours of sexual offenders in prisons. Easy to follow and not too academic but deep enough to allow the reader to examine their own behavioural patterns.

REVIEW: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4 stars! It feels weird to say that I liked a nonfiction book about rapists and murderers but honestly this was such a good book and extremely educational. I loved seeing her first impression on the job, the atmosphere of a maximum security prison in the 90’s was not great. I thought it was really interesting to see that the behaviour of the guards and officers and other male staff at the prison (who are meant to be the ‘good’ guys) was so appalling and sexist! Especially as her relationship with Daniel progressed, it had me thinking wow he’s horrible and I could have easily seen his behaviour getting worse. It makes you consider how ‘normal’ people could offend.

But this was a very difficult book. The SOTP treatment they did as a group included talking about and describing their offences and it was difficult to read about, I can’t imagine how difficult it is to actually hear it. It’s also quite confusing hearing these horrible things, but then also seeing these men as normal human beings who like cups of tea and making lists. As a psychology student I thought the second half of the treatment was interesting, they talked about schemas and attachment styles and how they can relate to their offending behaviour. It really gave them a lot to think about.

The ending was interesting. The fact that SOTP isn’t used anymore because there is contradicting evidence for it is interesting, and they made some good points about if the population samples used could really be compared. It seems like there is still a long long way to go in the treatment of sex offenders, and we won’t really know what works or doesn’t work until we try. Overall, I don’t want to say I liked reading this but I enjoyed learning more about the psychology side of offender treatment and what the job itself can be like. You get to see how it effects some of the staff involved. This was written very well and I thought it was very educational and explained psychological concepts very well.

Trigger warning for survivors of abuse.

I have been left with a like / dislike feeling about this book overall. The book is written by a psychologist from her perspective of being a newly qualified and female practitioner having to support sex offenders to examine their motives in relation to their crimes. Many of them have had awful childhoods and this evoked some empathy in me for a class of criminals that I did not wish to feel any empathy for. This is a thought provoking book that held my attention throughout and me think hard....and I didn't like what I was being made to think about. The psychologist is also brutally honest about herself and the motives behind her own behaviour, which I suppose is unsurprising considering what she does for a living and the overall tone of the book.

This was insightful and disturbing. So many of the people inside had issues and I can't imagine how strong Rebecca Myers had to be to sit with them and try and help. I admire her strength and this book has given me a new perspective on life inside prison.

Interesting look into the work of a Forensic Psychologist working with some of the worst offenders in the UK. I found the case studies of working with sexual offenders really interesting and the author did a great job of reminding the reader that although these people have committed the worst acts, they are still humans with their own share of trauma. I found the use of an alias for the prison a bit strange as it was made very obvious throughout which prison it was and some of the writing in the prisoner's various dialects was quite annoying and borderline offensive, I didn't feel it added character to the story but came across as though the author felt they were stupid. Other than that however the content was really interesting and thought provoking.

What a book! If you love true story memoirs then this is the book for you! This book intrigued me from the first page and although some of the book made for very difficult reading (some of the prisoners crimes were not easy to read about), the way the author portrays herself is very powerful and interesting. This book certainly gives an insight to prison life and although I struggled to keep up with all the different names in the book I really enjoyed this insight of Rebecca”s life.

Dr Rebecca Meyers works in HM Prison service and deals with sex offenders, murders and people locked away from society for their crimes. She offers them psychological services and delves into the minds of the inmates.

Upon first reading the book, one might think this would be a sensationalised account of the inmates found but Meyers turns this on its heads. Yes the crimes are put into the focus but she looks at the humans behind the headlines and the crimes to delve into the emotional and psychological make up to give us a true more formalised understanding on the reasoning on why people do what they do.

She deals with the issues sensitively and professionally and gives the reader an easier understanding without going to far into medical jargon making the material more relatable.

Overall, this is an extremely well crafted non fiction book that takes a deeper look at crime and the people who commit those crimes and puts more of a human face onto all that are involved. This works beyond the true crime moniker that it may get stuck with and it is as intriguing as it is informative. A sure fire winner.

An insightful and honest account of the work of a prison psychologist. Rebecca worked with sex offenders and was part of some innovative programmes designed to confront offenders with their crimes and change their behaviour for the better. She faced some successes and also some failures.
There are some passages which are gruelling to read, and this book is not for the faint-hearted, since the author pulls no punches when she describes what inmates have done. There are no gratuitous details but there was enough information to make it very uneasy reading. She describes the impact on her also, and on her colleagues, and the attrition from hearing such depraved accounts on a daily basis.
The only negative point for me was the ending of the book, which came about suddenly, and was almost a summary chapter of her last twenty years! I think the publishers should have done a much better job of giving more detail on these episodes.
A good read, as long as you realise what you are getting in to.

A difficult read but one you just can’t put down. A young girl straight out of uni working in a prison with Sex offenders. I’m not sure if I was Rebecca’s mother I could read this but an absolutely fascinating incite into the work of a prison psychologist. But also shows the eary reality of sex offenders and the way their minds work. Only read if you’re not easily upset my details of rape and murder.

I loved this book, a great insight into how sex offenders are the way they are due to last experiences and that, even though they committed horrendous crimes, deep down are just like you and me with the same
Insecurities. Very well written and a great insight into rehabilitation.

II found this a very interesting read but at times it was very distressing. I certainly felt for the emotions that Rebecca went through and cannot begin to relate to her life with her family and the worries that she sees everywhere. People often talk about the fact that bringing back the death penalty would deter this type of criminal but this book shows very clearly that there is hope of rehabilitation for some and therefore none should be totally given up on.
This whole book was well structured and kept me wanting to keep on reading as I wanted to follow through all of Rebecca’s first group of her SOTP course and see what happened to them all. The approach of the Schema’s and the effect on both those inside the system and the psychologists created deep thoughts to e as the reader.
The final round up at the end describing the changes to her life outside of her prison work was very emotive describing what her career has done to her family and personal life.
A well written book given a valued inside view to life of the hardened criminals that face life sentences.

It gives a inside view of dr Rebecca Myers time as a prison psychologist working with prisoners who have committed crimes.This book was such a shocking read .
I decided to read this as I am studying criminology at university so very interested in these types of book.
It was so informative that I read it in one sitting . I learned things that I would have never knew about prisoners who are in doing time for nasty crimes this books tell its all.
Shocking and griping read I never wanted the book to end .

Following the authors career as a psychologist, this book packs a punch. We are taken on her career journey from her early days and no detail is left unturned. It is a difficult read but not something I was unprepared for. Working in child protection, sadly I also work with sex offenders and so reading the accounts of the work that goes on from behind bars was intriguing and oddly comforting that such preventative work is being undertaken.
A great read but not for the faint hearted.
Thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for providing me with a ARC in return for an honest review.

A really insightful read in to our male prisons and the psychology of those who commit dreadful crimes. As someone with a background in psychology, I found this intriguing and educational. A great read for anyone who wonders what goes on in the minds of criminals.

This was a very interesting read. Not always easy reading and some of the stories are awful. This encourages thoughts about what causes someone to offend in the most heinous of crimes. Although the crimes are devastating, you still consider if things would be different if the same people were brought up in different circumstances and had healthy attachments growing up.

Very thought provoking and would definitely recommend.

Psychologist Dr Rebecca Myers does not hold back in this eye opening book. Attempted rehabilitation of a group of sex offenders and murderers is never going to be an easy task, this book shows Dr Myers brutally honest look at how she dealt with them and the system around her. Very well written and even when at times it was hard to swallow it is still a fascinating read.