The majority of people in Scotland’s prisons come from marginalised communities of profound deprivation and poverty. Their lives are generally shorter, their levels of addiction higher and their mental health wellbeing poorer than the wider population. This raises questions as to whether incarceration is a civilised and just response to structural disadvantage. Can the experience of prison be reimagined to set people on positive trajectories? And if so, how can the range of other services tasked with transforming lives understand the place of ‘dark experiences’? This talk will explore and share some of the progress that has been made in changes to Scottish policy, practice and legislation by sharing the lived dark experience of punishment with those who can bring about purposeful and systemic change. It will consider ways the involvement of people who do not see themselves as having a role to play in justice could bring about a reduction in offending and re-offending in Scotland. It will explore the role of prison as a step on a road to change, thereby reducing the number of victims and levels of harm.