This book constitutes the first publication to utilise a range of social science methodologies to illuminate diverse and new aspects of health research in prison settings. Prison contexts often have profound implications for the health of the people who live and work within them. Despite these settings often housing people from extremely disadvantaged and deprived communities, many with multiple and complex health needs, health research is generally neglected within both criminology and medical sociology. Through the fourteen chapters of this book, a range of issues emerge that the authors of each contribution reflect upon. The ethical concerns that emerge as a consequence of undertaking prison health research are not ignored, indeed these lie at the heart of this book and resonate across all the chapters. Foregrounding these issues necessarily forms a significant focus of this introductory chapter.  

Alongside explicitly considering emerging ethicalissues, our contributing authors also have considered diverse aspects of innovation in research methodologies within the context of prison health research.  Many of the chapters are innovative through the methodologies that were used, often adapting and utilising research methods rarely used within prison settings. The book brings together chapters from students, scholars, practitioners and service users from a range of disciplines (including medical sociology, medical anthropology, criminology, psychology and public health).  

Matthew Maycock is Learning and Development Researcher at the Scottish Prison Service, and was Investigator Scientist at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow, UK. 
Rosie Meek is the Head of the School of Law and leads a team of prison researchers at Royal Holloway University of London, UK. She is a chartered psychologist and prison researcher, conducting quantitative and qualitative research.
James Woodall is Reader and also Head of Subject in Health Promotion at Leeds Beckett University, UK. He investigates how values central to health promotion are applied to the context of imprisonment.
    

1. Introduction, Matthew Maycock, James Woodall, Rosie Meek.- 2. Participatory Research In Prison: Rationale, Process And Challenges, James Woodall.- 3. Promoting Health Literacy With Young Adult Men In An English Prison, Anita Mehay, Rosie Meek, Jane Ogden.- 4. Challenges And Practicalities In Adopting Grounded Theory Methodology When Conducting Prison Research, Nasrul Ismail.- 5. The Research Experience From An Insider Perspective, David Honeywell.- 6. Prisoner Experiences Of Prison Health In Scotland, James Fraser.- 7. Building Health And Wellbeing In Prison:  Learning From The Master Gardener Programme In A Midlands Prison, Geraldine Brown, Elizabeth Bos, Geraldine Brady.- 8. The Dead Zone In The Stories Of People In Prison, Alan Farrier.- 9.  Evaluation And Reflections From The Use Of Implementation Science To Accommodate A Community Mental Health Awareness Programme To A Prison, David Woods, Gavin Breslin.- 10. Oral Health As A Door To Promoting Psychosocial Functioning For People In Custody: Lessons Learnt From The Development Of The Mouth Matters Intervention, Ruth Freeman.- 11. Health Arts And Justice, Alison Frater.- 12. Pregnancy In Prison, Dr Laura Abbot.- 13. Masculinity, Doing Health, Performances Of Masculinity Within The Fit For Life Programme Delivered In Two Scottish Prisons, Matt Maycock, Cindy Gray, Kate Hunt.- 14. More Than Just A Game: The Impact Of A Prison Football Team On Physical And Social Wellbeing In A Welsh Prison, Jamie Grundy, Rosie Meek.