Offender management in and after prison: The end of ‘end to end’? (original) (raw)
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In 2013 a joint report by the Inspectorates of Probations and Prisons in England and Wales concluded that offender management in prisons was ‘not working’ and called for a fundamental review. This article considers why existing arrangements have failed and draws upon theory and research on resettlement, case management and desistance from crime, to define what a more effective system of ‘rehabilitative resettlement’ – both inside prison and ‘through the gate’ – might look like. It also comments on emerging proposals for radical change, including abandonment of the ‘end to end’ model of offender management by an outside probation officer and the development of ‘rehabilitative prisons’, in which more responsibility is placed on prisoners for managing their own rehabilitation, and a formal motivational role is created for large numbers of prison staff.
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Introduced under the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, the Offender Rehabilitation Act 2014 created a period of post-sentence supervision (PSS) after licence for individuals serving short custodial sentences. This empirical study features on the ground views and perspectives of practitioners and service users of PSS in one case-study area. Findings from this research suggest a number of issues and ambiguities with the enactment of the sentence. These include ambiguities regarding the correct use of enforcement procedures; the antagonistic relationship between third sector and Community Rehabilitation Company staff, primarily centred around transferring cases and concerns over the use of ‘light touch’ supervision and uncertainties over what the rehabilitative aims of this sentence mean in practice. These issues led to practitioners questioning the legitimacy of the third sector organisation involved in the management of PSS, while service users experienced PSS as a frustrating ‘pa...
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The Offender Rehabilitation Act (ORA) 2014 extended post-release supervision to the short sentence population, a cohort who have historically been neglected in penal discourse and were introduced as a part of the Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) reforms. The purpose of this thesis is to explore how resettlement is enacted by practitioners and experienced by individuals serving short sentences. This empirical research was undertaken in one case study area in England and Wales. The experiences of 35 practitioners and service users were captured, in order to gain a rich qualitative perspective of the newly re-designated resettlement prison; the experiences of transitioning through-the-gate into the community; post-sentence supervision; service user perspectives of navigating resettlement; and practitioner perspectives of on the ground practice in the Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC). Findings from this research reveal a dissonance between the aims and ambitions of TR and the real...
How the resettlement of prisoners promotes desistance from crime
Criminology & Criminal Justice, 2006
The article considers current developments in the ‘resettlement’ of prisoners in the light of recent theory and research on factors promoting desistance from crime. While recognizing improvements promised by the Reducing Re-offending National Action Plan and the concept of ‘end-to-end’ offender management, it is argued that these are unlikely to reduce re-offending significantly without greater attention to individual offenders' mental processes and levels of selfmotivation, which are identified by the desistance literature (as well as much of the ‘what works’ literature) as critical factors in personal change. An account is given of a promising approach adopted in the ‘Resettlement Pathfinders’, where a cognitive-motivational programme was combined with practical services, with encouraging early results. However, concerns are expressed that even the most innovative approaches may be undermined by features of the broader context within which correctional services are delivered, ...
What works for offenders and staff: Comparing two multi-agency approaches to offender resettlement
piloted EXODUS (Ex-Offenders Discharged Under Supervision), a multi-agency support system for identified priority and prolific offenders (IPPO"s). Unlike traditional models of multi-agency support, EXODUS agencies work from the same location to maximise support for IPPO"s, and inter-and intra-agency support for staff. This study assessed the perceived effectiveness of EXODUS. EXODUS staff and IPPO's were interviewed and their responses compared to those of traditional multi-agency support staff and IPPO's.
How the Resettlement of Prisoners Promotes Desistance from Crime: Or Does It
This paper explores converges and divergences between two concepts which have rapidly become prominent in criminological and criminal justice literature over the past few years: 'resettlement' and 'desistance'. It identifies a shift in thinking about both the nature and the significance of work with prisoners who are making the transition from custody to community, which is increasingly being regarded as of central importance to the government's agenda of reducing re-offending. In the light of the new expectations they carry, it examines current and planned resettlement strategies and initiatives in England and Wales, and asks to what extent these are compatible with insights from theory and research about how and why most offenders eventually desist from crime.
An Overview of Offender Rehabilitation: Something Old, Something Borrowed, Something New
Australian Psychologist, 2002
T he topic of offender rehabilitation, particularly offender treatment, has been greatly revived over the past decade. This paper opens with a brief consideration of the moral basis of rehabilitation, perhaps favouring a utilitarian stance in which rehabilitation should be a proven means by which to reduce crime. In this empirical light, a summary of the meta-analyses of offender treatment is presented. The meta-analyses have provided a major impetus for offender treatment over the past decade, helping define the principles of effective practice. One consequence of the meta-analyses has been the rise in popularity of offending behaviour programs. The desirability of behaviour change programs has been widely debated in the clinical psychology literature. Wilson's (1996) paper offers a thorough review of the issues associated with a programmatic delivery of services. Wilson's insights from the perspective of clinical psychology are borrowed and applied to work with offenders. This analysis is used to highlight the practical strengths and weakness of offender programs, raising concerns for the future. It is suggested that these concems can be used to develop the next generation of programs and an illustration is given from work in progress in County Durham, in the north of England. The paper concludes with the view that future program development is critical if offender rehabilitation is to remain in favour.
Four forms of ‘offender’ rehabilitation: Towards an interdisciplinary perspective
Legal and Criminological Psychology, 2012
This paper aims to advance the case for a more fully interdisciplinary understanding of offender rehabilitation, partly as a means of shedding light upon and moving beyond contemporary 'paradigm conflicts'. It begins with a review of current arguments about what a credible 'offender' rehabilitation theory requires and by exploring some aspects of current debates about different theories. It goes on to locate this specific kind of contemporary theory-building in the context of historical arguments about and critiques of rehabilitation as a concept and in practice. In the third part of the paper, I explore the nature of the relationship between desistance theories and rehabilitation theories, so as to develop my concluding argument; i.e. that debates about psychological rehabilitation have been hampered by a failure to engage fully with debates about at least three other forms of rehabilitation (legal, moral and social) that emerge as being equally important in the process of desistance from crime.
Probation Journal, 2018
This paper draws upon research documenting the implementation, management and delivery of Through the Gate service provision in one case study area across an 18-month period. In referring to interviews and focus groups with professionals, male prisoners, and the families of these men, the paper provides a critical examination of the practice implications of administering Through the Gate provision in a resettlement prison. In doing so we reflect upon the changes in organisational structures, the evolution of occupational culture(s), and on the impact on multi-agency partnership working practice evident within this Transforming Rehabilitation led period of transitional change.