Meet Frankco

“If you didn't ask me, you would never know about my past and what happened.”

Frankco Harris is a PhD candidate at Oxford University, writing his thesis on criminology in Bermuda.  

Frankco has lived experience with the criminal justice system, spending time in prison over two decades ago.

When Frankco came out of prison, he felt lost and broken.

However, he was still driven to fulfil his dream of becoming a lawyer. 

As someone coming out of prison, like many others he faced barriers, including his negative self-perception and society's stigma.

“I came out wanting to prove people wrong, which fuelled my drive to succeed.”

“However, society sees you and thinks: ‘you've messed up’. And that is it. That is tough.”

“I had to jump through a million hoops to prove myself.”

With a master’s from the LSE and a PhD on the way, Frankco has finally achieved his dreams.

By most standards, Frankco has achieved success.

The usual acceptance rate for a PhD at Oxford University is 19%, but these statistics are for people who have not been in prison.

“Not many people can occupy the place at Oxford University, let alone people with lived criminal justice experience,” Frankco explained.

At the same time, despite his flourishing life, he is still haunted by his past and self-perception.

Frankco explains that as he rises in society and walks through many doors of privilege, the societal stigma becomes stronger. 

“Many senior management and policy-making roles have more scrutiny of your past than service jobs.”

Because of his past, Frankco cannot travel to all countries, and this impedes him from attending important academic conferences, for example. He is living with punishment beyond release.

“I am still living with the stigma, and now it is more internalised stigma. I am still healing and living with the trauma of what happened.”

“But when that happens, I remind myself how exceptional I have done.”

“Don’t limit yourself to second chances. It takes a million chances to succeed.”

“If you can rise one more day, there is an opportunity to start again.”

95,526 people in prison in the UK.

70% of people released from prison in the UK cannot find work.

Adult prisoners in the UK spend 22 hours a day in their cells.

67% of adult prisoners have literacy levels of children aged 11 years old or younger.

A word from us: The photos above were taken in His Majesty's Prison ISIS in the UK. In ISIS, the prison population is 46% black men. In the UK, Black people are 53% more likely to be sent to prison for an indictable offence, and Asian people 55% more likely compared to white people. Even when higher not-guilty plea rates are factored in.

Photos taken by Misan Harriman at HMP ISIS which were thankfully facilitated by Governor Emily Thomas.

Frankco was coached by Spark Inside, through the Elevate CJS programme, set up by the Criminal Justice Alliance. The programme supports people with lived experience in the criminal justice system to unlock their leadership potential through coaching, professional development and clinical supervision. Both Spark Inside and Criminal Justice Alliance are Porticus partners. 

As well as coaching young adults in prison, Spark Inside coach prison officers, giving them the skills and reflection time needed to build positive connections with those in their care as part of their rehabilitation journey and to become leaders actively contributing to a vibrant and rehabilitative global prison reform movement. 

Porticus funds partners globally enabling people to see a different, positive future for themselves and map out the steps and bridges of support needed for them to flourish and live a positive life after prison.

People in prisons and those released must be treated with dignity and not stigma.

People might need millions of chances to start their lives new.

Want to invest in work that centers criminal justice on dignity and rehabilitation:

Here are some of our partners you can donate to:

Spark Inside: Support Us | Spark Inside  

RIFT Social Enterprise: Home | RIFT SE

Untold Creative Training Ltd: Get Involved (untold.org.uk)

Criminal Justice Alliance and their Elevate CJS programme: ELEVATE CJS | Criminal Justice Alliance

Prison Reform Trust: Donate | Prison Reform Trust

Learn more about the Porticus Criminal Justice programme: Priorities | Criminal Justice | Porticus