Intervention Design in Corrections: From Managing the Object to Developing the Subject 

5–6 November 2026 | Olaine, Latvia | Plenary Sessions Live Online 

The Latvian Prison Administration invites prison professionals, researchers and criminal justice practitioners from across Europe to follow the international conference “Intervention Design in Corrections: From Managing the Object to Developing the Subject”, taking place on 5–6 November 2026 at the Training Centre of the Latvian Prison Administration in Olaine, Latvia. 

The conference begins with a simple but fundamental question: Does imprisonment primarily teach people how to function as prisoners, or can the prison environment be deliberately designed to strengthen the capacities needed for life after release? 

Over two days, international researchers and practitioners will explore how the prison environment, professional relationships and correctional interventions can move from primarily external control towards the development of agency, responsibility and sustainable behavioural change. 

Key Themes 

The plenary programme will explore: 

• imprisonment, institutionalisation, and the tension between becoming a “good prisoner” and a “good citizen”; 

• maturity, responsibility and the risk of institutional dependency; 

• prison subculture as an adaptive response to institutional conditions; 

• micro-choices and the development of an internal locus of control; 

• masculinity, relationships and institutional culture in correctional settings; 

• the prison itself as an intervention environment, from admission to release; 

• sequencing, transition and continuity of interventions; 

• the distinction between evidence-based rehabilitation and interventions that may be supportive but do not directly target criminogenic needs; 

• developing a coordinated intervention ecosystem around criminogenic factors. 

Contributors include researchers and correctional professionals from Latvia, the United Kingdom, Poland, Norway and Romania, including Are Høidal, former Governor of Halden Prison; Dr Ioana Morar, Vice-President of EuroPris and Deputy Director General of the Romanian National Prison Administration; Professor Ioan Durnescu, University of Bucharest; and other international and Latvian speakers. 

Follow the Conference Online 

The plenary sessions will be streamed live, allowing colleagues from prison and probation services, universities and other criminal justice organisations across Europe to follow the conference remotely. 

5 November 2026 – Plenary Sessions 
6 November 2026 – Plenary Sessions