Marjolein van der Werf

Education: Master Adult Educational Sciences (2022), Master in Criminology (2025)

Research Themes: Peer programmes in prisons, agency among people in detention.

Marjolein van der Werf is a PhD researcher at the Department of Educational Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and at the Department of Sociology at the University of Antwerp. Since December 2025, she has been conducting research on the need for agency among people in detention and on how peer programmes in prisons can respond to this need. This research is part of the PIP project (Peer Support Innovating Prisons), a collaboration between the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the University of Antwerp, Ghent University, and Odisee University of Applied Sciences. The PIP project is funded by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO).