RT Article T1 Hope and the life sentence JF The British journal of criminology VO 62 IS 1 SP 234 OP 250 A1 Seeds, Christopher LA English YR 2022 UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1788015738 AB Corrections officials, prison staff and many people incarcerated have long believed that hope derived from a realistic possibility of release is essential to maintain order and safety in the prison. Criminological research consistently finds, however, that people without foreseeable or realistic prospects for release nevertheless do hope. Yet while findings of hope in criminological literature are robust, they remain undeveloped. This article draws from hope studies in other disciplines to advance a model of types of hope, which is then used to analyse evidence of hope in prior criminological literature on life sentences and long prison terms. The article distinguishes hopes derived from legal opportunities and escapist fantasies from deeper hopes grounded in despair, highlighting hope as a site for further research. K1 Hope K1 Long-term imprisonment K1 Prison sociology K1 Life Sentence DO 10.1093/bjc/azab037