NCJ Number
230924
Editor(s)
Jo Brayford,
Francis Cowe,
John Deering
Date Published
2010
Length
306 pages
Annotation
The thirteen chapters of this book elaborate upon the central argument that more recent understandings of 'what works' in corrections in the United Kingdom have been dominated by policy and practice that have originated from 'top-down' initiatives and policy proposals, which have suppressed front-line, local creative and flexible rehabilitative approaches tailored to local offender populations.
Abstract
The four chapters of part one review the history of probation practice in the United Kingdom, the emergence over the past decade of 'desistance' theories (what factors are involved in offenders stopping their criminal behavior), and a reconsideration of how the emerging evidence about effective rehabilitative approaches that result in desistence from crime could be integrated into new forms of group-based interventions. The nine chapters of part two variously discuss the creative ways in which the authors are working with offenders or other socially excluded people and propose ways in which offender rehabilitation could be improved. Many of the initiatives documented are not new and others involve new ways of working with or thinking about offenders. Separate chapters address creative initiatives with women offenders; residential, community-based work with offenders that counteracts the tendency to 'warehouse' them in hostels; work with minority ethnic offenders, specifically Muslim offenders; creative ways of expanding the resources available for youth involved with the criminal justice system; innovative ways for treating sex offenders; the use of forestry and conservation work with prison inmates; and problems and possibilities for the United Kingdom's National Offender Management System. 11 figures, 9 tables, chapter references, and a subject index