Transforming Rehabilitation and Through The Gate: Research from a resettlement prison

Abstract

A strong emphasis within the TR agenda was placed on the establishment of 70 resettlement prisons to commence the ‘through the gate’ provision to allow rehabilitation support to extend from custody into the community. A key motivator for such developments was the need to provide additional support for those released from prison having been sentenced to 12 months or less - who, as a group, have a reoffending rate of 60% (Ministry of Justice 2013). This paper presents findings from phase one of a longitudinal project seeking to document the views and experiences of a series of individuals caught up in the grip of the profound changes to service provision taking place in one resettlement prison in the North West of England. The study seeks to explore how the structures, processes and operation of in-prison based resettlement service provision change; examine the views of those charged with implementing and managing these interventions; and gauge the experiences of those inmates (and their families) who engage services both within and outside the prison estate