www.clinks.org
Desistance: translating theory
into practice
March 2014
Nicola Drinkwater, Policy Officer
Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families
www.clinks.org
What is desistance?
• Process not an event
• Primary desistance- absence of offending
behaviour.
• Secondary desistance- refers to a much more
deep seated change in a person, reflected in them
developing an identity as a ‘non-offender.’
Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families
www.clinks.org
Measurement
• Intermediate outcomes
• Payment by Results
– Binary measure- the number of offenders in
the cohort who commit any further offences
– Frequency measure- the number of
reoffences committed per offender in the
cohort
Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families
www.clinks.org
Translating theory into practice
‘There is no single theory of why people stop
offending, nor is there an obvious or agreed set of
policy proposals which can be ‘read off’ from the
research.’
Fergus McNeill, Stephen Farrall, Claire Lighthowler and Shadd Maruna (2014)
Discovering desistance: reconfiguring criminal justice, Special issue on
desistance, Scottish Justice Matters.
Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families
www.clinks.org
Supporting the desistance process
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Service user engagement
Service user involvement
A transparent service
Empowering service users
Flexible and holistic services
A strengths-based approach
Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families
www.clinks.org
Supporting the desistance process
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Working with and through families and groups
Creating a sense of belonging
Peer support
Fostering creativity
Long-term support
Partnership working
Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families
www.clinks.org
Workshop
• How do you support desistance in your work?
• Can you give examples, using the factors we
have explored?
• Are there any ways you can improve your
service or work to support the desistance
process further?
Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families
www.clinks.org
Next steps
• Evaluating a service or project
– the Good Vibrations Javanese Gamelan project.
– 2nd Chance’s football and rugby academy, a two year
sports initiative at HMP YOI Portland.
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Measure your impact
Develop a theory of change
Create a service user involvement group
Advocate for desistance
Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families
www.clinks.org
Useful resources
• Clinks website- www.clinks.org
– Improving your evidence resources http://www.clinks.org/support/evaluation-and-effectiveness
– Guide to service user involvement:
(http://www.clinks.org/sites/default/files/VOLUNTEERING%20G
UIDE%20-%20Service%20User%20Involvement.pdf)
– Clinks Volunteering and Mentoring Guide:
(http://www.clinks.org/sites/default/files/Volunteer_Peer_Support.
pdf)
– Theory of change:
http://www.clinks.org/sites/default/files/TheoryofChangeGuide.pd
f)
Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families
www.clinks.org
Useful resources
• Desistance-based evaluations:
– The Write to be Heard Project
(http://www.artsalliance.org.uk/sites/default/files/Writetobeheard_
FinalReport.pdf )
– Evaluation report for 2nd Chance’s football and rugby academy,
a two year sports initiative at HMP YOI Portland
(http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/210815/1/Meek_2nd_Chance_Portlan
d_Evaluation_Final_Report.pdf
• Discovering desistancehttp://blogs.iriss.org.uk/discoveringdesistance/.
Supporting voluntary organisations that work with offenders and their families