Richard Kjellgren

Prisoners in Scotland face mental health and substance use crisis after release, research reveals | About | University of Stirling Prisoners in Scotland face mental health and substance use crisis after release, research reveals

Great to see @drcconnell.bsky.social @kjellgren.bsky.social and colleagues' RELEASE research reported in news media 👇

Prisoners in Scotland face mental health and substance use crisis after release, research reveals.
#Health #Drugs #JusticeHealth #CrimSky #Criminology
www.stir.ac.uk/news/2026/fe...

Very chuffed to have been part of this important and timely study - stay tuned for more updates as we’ve got lots of work in the pipeline!

Come and see the RELEASE findings with @kjellgren.bsky.social at @addiction-ssa.org

#SSA2025
#JusticeHealth

Joining the substance use research community at @addiction-ssa.org conference til tomorrow. Check out
@kjellgren.bsky.social poster with early RELEASE results, examining substance use related health service contact on release from prison: prescription to A&E

#JusticeHealth
@sacasrstir.bsky.social

Check out the insightful reflections from our RELEASE volunteer and MSc Big Data student, Janine Aitken, on why lived experience matter in big data research
👇

ecrusad.co.uk/2025/10/28/t...

Justice Health: Advancing understanding of emergency and unscheduled care use among people released from prison - Scottish Graduate School of Social Science The successful student(s) will work with their host to conduct a bespoke analysis on an interdisciplinary topic (justice and health) using data from the RELEASE study, contribute to a paper, and creat...

Are you an ESRC PhD student looking for an academic placement?

Work with the RELEASE dataset to understand post-imprisonment emergency service use: with me and @kjephd.bsky.social

Happy to answer Qs

www.sgsss.ac.uk/internship/c...

#JusticeHealth
@stirlingucu.bsky.social @sacasrstir.bsky.social

RELEASE protocol paper is out ijpds.org/article/view...

This paper, led by @kjellgren.bsky.social describes how we created the RELEASE dataset, what is in it, and plans for analysis

Results coming soon 1/3

#JusticeHealth
@sacasrstir.bsky.social @stirunicriminology.bsky.social

You’ll find us at the Society for the Study of Addiction Annual Conference next week, where we’ll be highlighting post-release service use for substance use in the prison population compared to a matched general population sample. Get in touch if you’re interested to hear more.

Check out our recent protocol paper for the RELEASE study. It provides an overview of the RELEASE dataset, which is a unique resource for understanding the public health and epidemiology of Scotland’s prison experienced population. Stay tuned for the findings.

👇go see this if you’re lucky enough to be at #WCP2025. Excellent work from excellent colleagues. #conferenceFOMO

Joining my first @adruk2025.bsky.social conference and looking forward to hearing so many linked data papers.

@kjellgren.bsky.social and @jsavinc.bsky.social will share preliminary results from RELEASE- examining the healthcare contacts between different people released from prison.
#JusticeHealth

Hear some preliminary findings from the RELEASE study at ADR-UK next week - post-imprisonment mental health and substance use related healthcare contacts

Abstract -> ijpds.org/article/view...

led by @jsavinc.bsky.social @kjellgren.bsky.social

@adruk2025.bsky.social
#JusticeHealth
#LinkedData

Interested in quantitative methods, health and justice? Come join us👇

Photo of a Victorian-era prison with a barbed wire fence in the foreground

Dr Catriona Connell will be giving evidence to Scottish Parliament Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday. It's part of their Inquiry into harm caused by substance misuse in Scottish prisons. See 🔗 for details.

@drcconnell.bsky.social @sacasrstir.bsky.social

🔗
www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-...

Inverness and Cromarty Green Freeport: Assessing crime and security risks - SCCJR The following report was funded by the SCCJR Research Development Grant. This report presents a review of research evidence into […]

📄 NEW report by Aaron Sheridan (Strathclyde), Colin Atkinson (UWS), @niallhsmith.bsky.social (University of Stirling), Richard @kjellgren.bsky.social (Stirling), Susan McVie (Edinburgh Uni), @frasoliman.bsky.social (Edinburgh Napier), and Kerry Hannigan (UHI). [2/2]
www.sccjr.ac.uk/publication/...

📣 Rapid Review by Danilo Falzon is now live!✨

Preventing Substance Use-Related Harms Among Young People in Scotland: Evidence, Knowledge Gaps, and Systems Solutions

Read the review here: buff.ly/Z5qmpte

Alcohol Occasional 3: Scotland’s first Managed Alcohol Programme Join us online for our third seminar of the 2025 series, delivered by Dr Emma King, Dr Hannah Carver and Jessica Greenhalgh.

🔊Register now for our upcoming seminar on Scotland's first Managed Alcohol Programme.

12.45 - 2pm, Mon 1 Sep 2025 @sarnalcohol.bsky.social
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/alcohol-oc...

A blue hexagon on a white background. Inside the hexagon is a grid of much smaller hexagons. Most of these are dark blue, but some of the small hexagons are lighter blue and spell out the letters SF. On top of the grid is the text sfhotspot.

Announcing sfhotspot, an #RStats package to make it as easy as possible to identify and map concentrations of crime (or concentrations of any other points in space).

Introduction: lesscrime.info/post/sfhotsp...
Package website: pkgs.lesscrime.info/sfhotspot/

🧵

Today I’m sharing results from RELEASE at the British Society of Criminology Conference
- focusing on access to services for mental health and substance use & comparing people released from prison to similar people who hadn't been in prison

Come say hi - 2.10pm Portland

#bsc2025 #justicehealth

Go check this out if you’re at #bsc2025 👇 #fomo 🥹

New paper out on 'Relational influences on help-seeking for mental health and substance use problems among people experiencing social marginalisation: a scoping review' with @drcconnell.bsky.social @kjellgren.bsky.social & Jessica Greenhalgh
1/4
bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/6...

Pleased our paper is out today: relational influences on help-seeking for mental health and substance use among marginalised people bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/6/e090349.full

We present follow on research with justice-involved ppl @ DRNS conference later @drnscot.bsky.social

Team ⬇️

#JusticeHealth

A team led by Dr Wendy Masterton are hosting an information sharing webinar on the findings of #research exploring nature-based programmes for people with poor mental health and experience of substance dependence. They'll present 3 new resources.

11am, 28 May.
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nature-bas...

Dr Richard Kjellgren @kjellgren.bsky.social speaking on the RELEASE research in Scotland which seeks to understand mental health and substance use-related services after release from prison. Really interesting and concerning data.
@sacasrstir.bsky.social @drcconnell.bsky.social #Criminology
[🧵/4]

👋 Janine Aitken, University of Stirling, gives us an update on the RELEASE project in our latest SCCJR blog.

The project focuses on understanding how individuals access health services for mental health and substance use following their release from prison.

👉 www.sccjr.ac.uk/news_item/re...

New pub alert 🍾
The most challenging yet rewarding paper I’ve worked on: 3y from idea to publication in BJC!
I explore how unstructured spare time shapes individual and temporal differences in crime, and propose a spare time model in criminology.
doi.org/10.1093/bjc/...

Important research by @thesccjr.bsky.social #Criminology colleagues on deaths in Scottish prisons featured on Channel 4 News 👇

Who seeks help in a crisis? Temporal analysis of anti-trafficking helpline contacts over the pandemic - BMC Public Health Background Human trafficking and extreme exploitation ("modern slavery") violate fundamental human rights and cause severe harm to individuals' well-being. Anti-trafficking helplines provide critical ...

📢How did the COVID-19 pandemic change the way people impacted by possible trafficking and exploitation seek help? Latest research with @drellac.bsky.social, and using over 5 years of Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline data uncovers surprising trends 1/ doi.org/10.1186/s128...

Asylum seeker support reduces trauma and saves lives, report finds | About | University of Stirling Asylum seeker support reduces trauma and saves lives, report finds

A specialist service by @scotrefugeecouncil.bsky.social to help asylum-seeking families in Scotland has been a lifeline for them, reducing trauma and even saving lives, says a new evaluation report by @drashleyrogers.bsky.social and colleagues @stir.ac.uk
www.stir.ac.uk/news/2025/ma...

Front page of report showing two buildings intercut together as a collage

We were commissioned by Scottish Parliament to look at the threats posed to them by emerging 'deepfake' technology - so-called 'chamberfakes' of parliamentary business. Report published today with SCCJR www.sccjr.ac.uk/publication/...