Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families Desistance: translating theory into practice March 2014 Nicola Drinkwater, Policy Officer

Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families What is desistance? Process not an event Primary desistance- absence of offending behaviour. Secondary desistance- refers to a much more deep seated change in a person, reflected in them developing an identity as a ‘non-offender.’

Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families Measurement Intermediate outcomes Payment by Results –Binary measure- the number of offenders in the cohort who commit any further offences –Frequency measure- the number of reoffences committed per offender in the cohort

Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families Translating theory into practice ‘There is no single theory of why people stop offending, nor is there an obvious or agreed set of policy proposals which can be ‘read off’ from the research.’ Fergus McNeill, Stephen Farrall, Claire Lighthowler and Shadd Maruna (2014) Discovering desistance: reconfiguring criminal justice, Special issue on desistance, Scottish Justice Matters.

Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families Supporting the desistance process Service user engagement Service user involvement A transparent service Empowering service users Flexible and holistic services A strengths-based approach

Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families Supporting the desistance process Working with and through families and groups Creating a sense of belonging Peer support Fostering creativity Long-term support Partnership working

Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families Workshop How do you support desistance in your work? Can you give examples, using the factors we have explored? Are there any ways you can improve your service or work to support the desistance process further?

Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families Next steps Evaluating a service or project –the Good Vibrations Javanese Gamelan project. –2 nd Chance’s football and rugby academy, a two year sports initiative at HMP YOI Portland. Measure your impact Develop a theory of change Create a service user involvement group Advocate for desistance

Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families Clinks website- –Improving your evidence resources –Guide to service user involvement: ( UIDE%20-%20Service%20User%20Involvement.pdf) UIDE%20-%20Service%20User%20Involvement.pdf –Clinks Volunteering and Mentoring Guide: ( pdf) pdf –Theory of change: f) f Useful resources

Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families Useful resources Desistance-based evaluations: –The Write to be Heard Project ( FinalReport.pdf ) FinalReport.pdf –Evaluation report for 2nd Chance’s football and rugby academy, a two year sports initiative at HMP YOI Portland ( d_Evaluation_Final_Report.pdfhttp://eprints.soton.ac.uk/210815/1/Meek_2nd_Chance_Portlan d_Evaluation_Final_Report.pdf Discovering desistance-