Measuring the Quality of Life in Detention

Mary Bosworth, Professor of Criminology and Alice Gerlach, Lecturer in Criminology, in the School of History, Philosophy and Culture at Oxford Brookes University

In 2010 Mary Bosworth created the first version of the Measure of the Quality of Life in Detention (MQLD) survey, based on her ongoing qualitative work inside British immigration removal centres. This survey has been adapted and applied in Italy and Portugal, and discussions are underway to develop it in Australia as well. Since 2017, Mary has been working alongside Alice Gerlach, who has assisted in revising the survey and its methodology. In the summer of 2019, we administered it, for the first time, across the entire British detention estate. Mary and Alice have published a range of pieces based on the survey and on the research on which it is based.

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