The Griffins Society is a voluntary organisation working for the care and resettlement of female offenders in prison and in the community.

Initially the Society, which was set up in 1966, concentrated on providing hostel accommodation for female offenders. When those residential projects were transferred to another organisation, the Society focused its activities on promoting best practice for women in the criminal justice system through:

1. funding practitioner-led research via our Research Fellowship Programme,
2. effective coordination and dissemination of information, and
3. facilitating practical projects that emerge from Fellows' recommendations

The Society was established in 1965 and over the next 30 years it developed considerable experience in the management of female offender accomodation. In 1999 the diverse accomodation projects were transferred to another organisation and the Society changed it's emphasis to facilitate the research, monitoring and evaluation of innovative responses to women's offending in the community and prior to their release from custody. As part of this, the Society finances up to four Research Fellowship Awards each year in conjunction with the London School of Economics for practitioners who are seeking to develop and enhance community-based provision for women offenders.

A history of the Society

Details of The Griffins Society council and staff