Opening post

This blog is a journal of the work that I am undertaking as the Desistance Development Officer for Avon and Somerset Probation Trust (ASPT).  I’ve been in this post since 13th August 2012 and already there has been a lot of progress.

Before this post I was working as a Probation Officer in an Offender Management Team.  In supervising individuals I’ve seen the frustrations of trying them to change, the lapses and relapses with substances and offending, and the changing levels of motivation.  What I have also seen is why I do this job.  It’s the positive changes no matter how small, the time someone decides an alternative to offending, when they start to believe in themselves, when they gain a qualification, when they get or keep a job, when they find somewhere to live, when they become a parent or start positive relationships.  The list is endless, but each experience and what it means to them can be part of them being part of their community and moving away from offending.

So back to desistance, simply put desistance is the process whereby individuals cease offending behaviour.  There are a number of theories for the why this occurs.  I found “Giving up Crime: Directions for Policy” by Beth Weaver and Fergus McNeill (see links) gives a really good overview of the literature.

There is increasing interest in desistance and more focus on the application to Probation practice.  I’m completing research and examining how to apply this to the work that ASPT undertake to support desistance.

A significant aspect of the work will be consultation with service users and staff in establishing what approaches they find support desistance.  The focus will be on the service users who have demonstrated desisting behaviour.  These are the people who have experienced different approaches and they can give a real insight into what factors and events supported them.  There will also be detailed interviews with staff that have a caseload with statistically lower re-offending rates than would be expected.  I strongly believe that the service users and staff are essential in increasing the understanding further. 

The film The Road from Crime highlights the issues surrounding desistance.  There have been sessions already run that have stimulated debates and discussions with service users, professionals amongst others.  The benefits of this film are that they are first hand perspectives of desisters.  There are plans in ASPT to incorporate the film into raising awareness of desistance.  There will be more information of this at a later date.

There is a lot of information and research that is available over the internet.  I’ve found that The Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services (IRISS) website is an excellent resource.  What has impressed me is the levels of information sharing which can only improve practice and policy.  I’m always on the look out for more research and developments that can inform the work that I am doing.  At the moment there are journals and research in nearly every room of my house and I’m hoping to keep adding to this!

So that is my first blog finished.  I’m planning on regular updates about the expereinces that I have and the findings.