Beyond what works : how and why do people stop offending?

The author explores a comparative analysis of social work models for engendering change in criminal behaviors among offenders in Scotland

21st century social work: reducing re-offending - key practice skills

This literature review was commissioned by the Scottish Executive’s Social Work Services Inspectorate in order to support the work of the 21st Century Social Work Review Group. Discussions in relation to the future arrangements for criminal justice social work raised issues about which disciplines might best encompass the requisite skills for reducing re-offending in the community. Rather than starting with what is known or understood about the skills of those professionals currently involved in such interventions, this study sought to start with the research evidence on effective work with offenders to reduce re-offending and then work its way back to the skills required to promote this outcome

Promoting desistance amongst young people

The handbook aims to encourage a critical interrogation of the ideas that underpin practice, examining such concepts as 'child development', 'crime' and 'punishment', and also provides a descriptive account of current practice in areas such as community corrections and incarceration - examining the evidence base for this and suggesting alternative strategies where appropriate. A key objective is to provide both students and practitioners in youth justice with the confidence to critically reflect on the ideas and current debates that influence work undertaken with young people

Four forms of 'offender' rehabilitation: Towards an interdisciplinary perspective

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; that is, 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 fr

Towards effective practice in offender supervision

This paper has been prepared principally for the Performance Improvement Strategy Group - a group convened by the Community Justice Division of the Scottish Government to advise and assist in the development of criminal justice social work services in particular and of community justice more generally. The PISG comprises representatives of the Scottish Government's Community Justice Division, of the Effective Practice Unit, of the Association of Directors of Social Work, of the voluntary sector service providers in Scotland, of the Scottish Prison Service, of the Risk Management Authority and from various Scottish universities. Discussions between the chair and some of the members of the PISG charged with leading work-streams on accreditation, interventions and inspection, indicated the need for the provision of a summary of effective practice that was sensitive to the unique Scottish context for the community supervision of offenders. The paper aims to provide that summary and to develop some ideas around a Scottish model of effective practice in offender supervision; as such it is concerned principally with the roles and tasks of criminal justice social work staff rather than with the important but broader debates around community and criminal justice in Scotland

Desistance, reflexivity and relationality : a case study

This paper presents the analysis of a single life-story drawn from a larger study examining theindividual, relational and structural contributions to the desistance process. The emphasis here is on the contributions of key social relations in ‘Evan’s’ narrative of change. How people relate to one another, and what these relationships mean to them both as individuals and together, are critical aspects of understanding the role of social relations in desistance. This paper concludes by considering how penal practices might generate and sustain the kinds of social capital and reflexive, relational networks relevant to desistance

Youth justice policy and its influence on desistance from crime

Tackling youth crime has become a prime concern of Government policy relating to children and young people. However, the arena in which such policy is played out remains predominantly within the confines of the youth justice system rather than in wider policy initiatives. As has been seen in other chapters in this book, this has resulted in the increasing criminalisation and stigmatisation of young people, with less emphasis on their status as'troubled' and more emphasis on their label as'troublesome'. Although only a small minority of young people offend with any conviction, in both senses of the word, these young people are seen to justify the majority of youth justice funding, policy and practice initiatives

Young women in transition : from offending to desistance

The fact that offending behaviour is primarily the preserve of youth has challenged criminologists for the best part of a century to date and will no doubt continue to do so. Burt's (1925) medical-psychological study initiated a wave of positivist research that made young people 'the hapless population upon which much of the emphasis of 'scientific criminology' and 'administrative criminology' was to come to rest' (quoted in Brown: 2005: 29). Children and young people have been set apart from adults by dint of their age and status rather than their capacities and competences (Archard, 1993; Franklin, 2002). There are special measures in place to protect them from harm (whether this be self-inflicted or imposed by others), they are herded into institutionalised educational establishments from the age of five purportedly to improve their life chances, and they can be denied access to opportunities afforded 'adults' in mainstream society until they are well into their twenties. They are the main focus of criminal enquiry and their behaviour is often seen as abnormal, rebellious or pathological rather than a manifestation of the power imbalances inherent in society. This chapter argues, however, that young people strive towards conventionality and integration (MacDonald, 1997; Williamson, 1995), albeit often held back by the attitudes and practices of adults which can be both discriminating and disempowering (Barry, 2005)