Peer Support Innovating Prisons (PIP)

In the project Peer support Innovating Prisons: towards reintegration and desistance of crime (PIP), we examine how, for whom, and under which circumstances peer programs in prisons work. We do this using realist science and a multi‑method approach.

Read on for the research approach and results, or contact us with questions or if you would like to share your practice experience.

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Peer support Innovating Prisons: toward reintegration and desistance from crime

At the end of 2025, the strategic basic research “Peer support Innovating Prisons: towards reintegration and desistance of crime” (PIP) started. This research project is funded by the Flemish Research Foundation (FWO) and is a collaboration between the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, University of Antwerp, Ghent University, and Odisee University of Applied Sciences. The goal of this research project is to gain insight into how, why, for whom and under which circumstances peer programs in prison work. Within this four-year project, we focus on four domains of peer support:

  • Emotional peer support

    The prevalence of mental health problems in prisons is much higher than in the general population. Depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis, and trauma are common within prison walls. The suicide rate in Belgian prisons is also five times higher. Limited access to mental health care within prisons exacerbates this risk. Within this study, we want to investigate how, why, and under what circumstances individuals in detention can support each other emotionally.

  • Enhancing agency from prisoner-led peer support programs

    Even in an environment that is often perceived as inhumane and controlling, peer support networks emerge in which people in prison support each other. This support is practical, emotional, … and gives people a sense of meaning and a certain degree of ownership over their lives in prison. The potential of initiatives where people in prison themselves shape how peer support take form have hardly been researched.

  • Peer support around serious illness, death and loss

    Serious illness, death, and grief are profound experiences, and perhaps even more so in prison. With this research, we want to investigate how, why, and under what circumstances people in prison support each other during these difficult moments in life.

  • Peers supporting to bridge life inside and outside of prison

    The transition from prison to the society is often complex and full of challenges. This study examines how lived experiences and mutual support among people with experience of imprisonment can be used to support this transition to society.

Throughout this research a realist science lens is applied to focus on the underlying mechanisms that trigger change, as well as the contextual factors behind peer programs. We do this by using a multi-method approach (e.g., realist synthesis, theory-gleaning interviews, participant observations, right-now surveys). We also focus on the overarching similarities between the different types of peer programs to develop a general understanding of how, why, for whom and under which circumstances peer programs work.

Key words: Peer-to-peer; prison; realist science

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