6 Bearing Witness to State Power: Peer Support in Prison as an Expression of Generative Justice

This chapter connects the concept of generative justice with the opportunities and challenges inherent in peer support within carceral environments. Firstly, we provide some broad parameters and a description of what constitutes peer support. Next, we elucidate prison in terms of a particular spatial, temporal, and moral context within which peer support can, and does, take place. Thirdly, we establish how the practicalities of peer support in prison can fulfil, but perhaps also modify, the core features and requirements of generative justice. Finally, we frame the generative role of peer support in prison as ‘bearing witness’ to state power. We conclude with three concrete ideas and policy suggestions for how peer support can be utilised within prisons across the UK right now to operationalise generative justice principles.