"The Road fom Crime" in Approved Premises

I used the film The Road from Crime in sessions today with Approved Premises residents in group sessions.  Attendance was voluntary and I have two follow up one to one appointments to come.  I was really pleased with the commitment by the residents,
especially given that I already spoke with them a week ago about it.  The attendance shows me that they want an input into how Probation work with them.

The film was well received and I found that it gave a more interesting approach to discussing desistance, rather than "talking at" people.  It was suggested that DVDs could be used to discuss other subjects, which is certainly something to consider.  The most common points raised from the film were that there were people talking who "know what it's like", which I think gave the film more credibility.

Before this turns into a film review (top rating by the way), I'll move onto the other points raised.

There was a real enthusiasm for the residents having their views heard.  By heard I mean really listened to and taken on board.  This is something that can easily incorporated in how we work and making opinion sharing more accessible could benefit the individuals as well as increasing our understanding so that we can improve our services.

Communication with staff was rasied as a key part of supporting the residents, both before and after release from prison.  Sounds simple and it is, but it is also a simple factor that can be delivered poorly. 

Labelling was a theme today in particular the struggle to move away from how people perceive you and how this can influence the sense of self.  The label was seen as something that is difficult to move away from especially in terms of risk.  Given the discussions were with AP residents, risk management and Public Protection was a strong topic of discussion.  Residents of APs are likely to have more restrictions and their residency is also likely to form part of the risk management.  It can be argued that risk aversion and public protection issues could frustrate desistance in terms of social ties and redemption.  But you simply cannot ignore matters relating to risk and public protection.  This is a circle of thinking that I struggled with today and I think that it is difficult to consider this in general terms rather than applying it to specific examples.