Key lessons from the RESET programme: Recommendations for the resettlement of young offenders

Reoffending rates for young offenders released from custody are high. Of approximately 6000 young people sentenced to custody each year, between 70% and 90% will reoffend within 12 months. Effective resettlement is vital to achieving better outcomes. RESET was a major experimental project led by Catch 22 and funded by European Equal, designed to improve outcomes. This executive briefing summarises the findings from the evaluation of RESET by CSR-Salford and ARCS UK. It explores lessons for mainstream resettlement support, making key recommendations about: coordinating resources and staff, making local partnerships, preparing young people for release, and communication and information flow between custody and community. It concludes that successful resettlement crucially requires: (1) widespread partnership coordination to address offenders' multiple needs; and (2) effective cooperation between custodial institutions and community agencies to ensure preparedness for release

Using an identity lens : constructive working with children in the criminal justice system

Research has shown that identity, and how you feel about yourself, can be key to moving forward with life and away from crime. Working with the University of Salford, Youth Offending Teams and supported by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, this resource has been developed to promote a constructive, identity-focused approach to ultimately help divert children away from progressing further through the criminal justice system. Using the principles of the Nacro-led Beyond Youth Custody programme, this toolkit outlines how these can be applied to working with children before custody to support them towards positive outcomes and prevent further offending

Women and Post-Conflict Society in Sierra Leone

Gender inequality in Sierra Leone, after colonialism among the worst in Sub-Saharan Africa, has been heightened further by the civil war of 1992-2002—which was related in part to the struggle for control of “blood diamonds” but also to long-standing social and regional disparities, and to collapse of formal institutions and widespread corruption. Sierra Leonean women are today among the most marginalized in the world, socially, economically and politically. However, there are differences among three groups: the better educated, comparatively richer “Krios” (descendants of the original freed slaves); relatively enlightened tribes; and the more traditional patriarchal tribes. The main route to improving the status of Sierra Leonean women is political empowerment. Some progress has been made since the civil war, post-conflict reconstruction programs and donor pressure are also opening up new opportunities for women progress, and there are hopes of significant electoral gains for women in the 2012 elections, inspired by the promising developments in neighboring post-conflict Liberia (which in 2005 elected Africa’s first female president). However, sustainable advancement depends on alliances whereby the better-educated urban women exert pressure for solving concrete problems of poorer women in exchange for their political support. Although such alliances are difficult, new grassroots women organizations have achieved positive initial results, which can be consolidated and expanded by appropriate partnership with international women NGOs

Poverty Among Women in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Selected Issues

Gender discrimination resulting in greater poverty among women is widespread throughout the developing world. However, the incidence of women poverty, as well as its depth and their vulnerability, is particularly marked in Sub-Saharan African countries of the tropical belt, albeit with significant rural-urban differences. The article reviews the interaction of traditional restrictions on women property rights, weak governance and violent civil conflict in perpetuating gender discrimination and women poverty in those countries. Statistics show some progress in women development indicators in Sub-Saharan Africa during the last decade, partly associated with improvements in governance and the end of civil war in some countries. Consolidating and advancing this progress requires targeted initiatives that take into account the circumstances of different groups of women while also encouraging the formation of bridging networks among groups and the provision of greater openings for women’s “voice.

Determinants of non-farm labour participation rates among farmers in Australia

In recent decades, non‐farm employment has become prevalent and an important source of income for Australian farm families. However, models identifying the relative significance of the socioeconomic variables influencing non‐farm employment participation rates have never been estimated in Australia. In this paper, a bivariate probit model of non‐farm employment participation rates was estimated, using information from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Economics (ABARE) 1994–1995 surveys. It was found that the participation decision of the farm operator and spouse is likely to be jointly determined, that non‐farm employment participation increased at a declining rate with age among farmers and that university education enhances the participation rates particularly among spouses. Participation rates were also higher among spouses with lower other income and with no dependent children.Farm Management,