A report said that prisoners with mental health problems were being released without homes to go to, families to support them, or jobs. Many released prisoners quickly lost touch with the services that were supposed to support them.
Source: Joanna Keil, Lisa Bruton, Stuart Thomas and Chiara Samele, On the Outside: Continuity of care for people leaving prison, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8300)
Links: Report | SCMH press release
Date: 2008-Dec
A study examined a project to enable prisoners to open basic (Co-operative) bank accounts prior to their release. The success of the scheme had resulted in the bank opening accounts for prisoners in 28 prisons.
Source: Paul Jones, Banking on a Fresh Start: A research study into the impact of the Co-operative Bank's project to enable prisoners to open basic bank accounts in HMP Forest Bank, Faculty of Health and Applied Social Sciences/Liverpool John Moores University (0151 231 5090)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Dec
An article examined why rehabilitation was enjoying a 'renewed legitimacy' in the criminal justice system in England and Wales.
Source: Gwen Robinson, 'Late-modern rehabilitation: the evolution of a penal strategy', Punishment and Society, Volume 10 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Oct
A report by a committee of MPs said that schemes to improve prisoners' basic skills and qualifications in English prisons had 'failed in almost every respect'.
Source: Meeting Needs? The Offenders' Learning and Skills Service, Forty-seventh Report (Session 2007-08), HC 584, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Nacro press release | UCU press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Oct
Researchers examined the association between resettlement factors – such as having accommodation and obtaining education, training, and employment – and one-year reconviction rates.
Source: Chris May, Nalini Sharma and Duncan Stewart, Factors Linked to Reoffending: A one-year follow-up of prisoners who took part in the resettlement surveys 2001, 2003 and 2004, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Oct
A report set out principles for the government's work with the third sector to reduce re-offending and protect the public. It contained specific commitments and actions to support these principles and to reduce barriers to third sector involvement. This included targeted activity to support the role of community, black and minority-ethnic, faith-based, and women's organizations.
Source: Working with the Third Sector to Reduce Re-offending: Securing effective partnerships 2008-2011, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | Ekklesia press release
Date: 2008-Oct
A report said that people sentenced to imprisonment for public protection had high rates of mental ill-health, and were getting inadequate help to put their lives back on track.
Source: In the Dark: The mental health implications of imprisonment for public protection, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8300)
Links: Report | SCMH press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Sep
A think-tank report said that the government should offer payment based on performance to any organization which placed and maintained ex-offenders in employment. Local councils could then form partnerships with these organizations to provide a one-stop assessment and referral centre to help place offenders in employment.
Source: Gavin Lockhart, Ben Ullmann and Julian Chant, You're Hired! Encouraging the employment of ex-offenders, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report | Nacro press release | PRT press release
Date: 2008-Sep
The government announced new targets to reduce both the adult and youth re-offending rates by 10 per cent between 2005 and 2011.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 16 July 2008, column 28WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2008-Jul
Researchers examined the attitudes and expectations of prisoners immediately prior to, and following, their release from prison. It also aimed to gain an understanding of their views on the impact of support services on the decisions they made and their experiences following release. Sources of resettlement support to help prisoners move into employment were often found to be of variable quality, and sometimes interviewees were unaware of them.
Source: Yvette Hartfree, Chris Dearden and Elspeth Pound, High Hopes: Supporting ex-prisoners in their lives after prison, Research Report 509, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2008-Jul
An article said that the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 was no longer effective in helping ex-offenders to escape from re-offending and return to 'normal' life, particularly by gaining employment. It made proposals for reform of the Act by reducing the disclosure periods for convictions, and urged early action on rehabilitation, particularly for young and first offenders.
Source: Allan Mears, 'Rehabilitation of offenders – does the 1974 Act help them?', Probation Journal, Volume 55 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jun
The government announced changes to the way that it measured progress in reducing re-offending. New statistics would focus on how many re-offences were committed, and how many of those were serious offences. The delay in reporting adult re-offending statistics would also be reduced. (The existing measurement focused on the proportion of offenders who re-offended within a given period – two years for adults, one year for juveniles – compared to a predicted rate.)
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 7 May 2008, columns 33-34WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2008-May
An article examined how the position of offenders had been affected by economic change. The possession of a criminal record had been a minor inconvenience to finding work in the 1960s: but de-industrialization and the growing service intensity of the economy had relegated many offenders to the margins of the labour market, with potentially profound implications for re-offending.
Source: Del Roy Fletcher, 'Offenders in the post-industrial labour market: from the underclass to the undercaste?', Policy & Politics, Volume 36 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Apr
An audit report said that many of the long-standing problems in providing offenders with effective and useful learning and skills training had yet to be overcome following the establishment of the Offenders' Learning and Skills Service. The level of training provision at each prison was based on historical funding allocations which did not necessarily match existing learning and skills needs. Contracts for providing courses did not reward outcomes and achievements; and there was insufficient data on the impact different sorts of training had on employment and re-offending rates.
Source: Meeting Needs? The Offenders' Learning and Skills Service, HC 310 (Session 2007-08), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | NAO press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Mar
An article reported a survey of employers which suggested that personal support was the most favoured type of support when considering employing (or employing more) ex-offenders. Employers needed more information on the relevance and the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, as well as guidance on risk assessment and management procedures, in order to enable them to make informed decisions about, and increase their confidence in, employing ex-offenders.
Source: Ilona Haslewood-Pocsik, Steven Brown and Jon Spencer, 'A not so well-lit path: employers' perspectives on employing ex-offenders', Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, Volume 47 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Feb
An article examined the potential role of prisoners' families in reducing re-offending. It drew on the concept of 'social capital' to provide insights into the importance of family relationships for encouraging desistance from crime.
Source: Alice Mills and Helen Codd, 'Prisoners' families and offender management: mobilizing social capital', Probation Journal, Volume 55 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Feb
A report said that people sentenced to community orders were not getting mental health treatment when they needed it.
Source: Linda Seymour and Max Rutherford, The Community Order and the Mental Health Treatment Requirement, Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health (020 7827 8300)
Links: Report | SCMH press release | Community Care report
Date: 2008-Jan