Desistance is generally presented in a positive light, with themes of 'making good' and generativity recurring in the literature. This article reports on two qualitative studies exploring the desistance journeys of two different groups of ex-offenders, drawing attention to the pains of this process. It examines the possible consequences of these 'pains of desistance' and how they are linked to three spheres of desistance: act-desistance; identity desistance; and relational desistance. The attempt to achieve act-desistance often led to the pain of isolation for our interviewees, while the clash between the need to achieve identity desistance and a lack of relational desistance (especially on the meso-and macro-levels) meant that they suffered the pain of goal failure. The pains of isolation and goal failure combined to lead to the further pain of hopelessness. Those interviewed were indeed 'going straight', but taking this path led many to a limited and often diminished life.
The following article presents findings from an ongoing evaluation of arts programmes from Artlink Central taking place in Cornton Vale, which is Scotland's main prison for women. Through a discussion of the findings, and a look to international research on this area, the arts can clearly generate significant rehabilitative benefits for offenders. However, such work has both real and perceived limitations. Ultimately the arts, like other rehabilitative efforts, can be regarded as an 'add on' and, therefore, do not receive the credit or place they deserve in policy and consequently in practice. a wide range of marginalised and special needs groups to work with experienced professional artists on highquality art projects in the Stirling, Falkirk and Clackmannanshire areas of Central Scotland. 1 They have delivered art workshops in prisons in Scotland for the past 14 years and, therefore, have extensive experience in working within the prison environment. The evaluation highlighted the rehabilitative effects that the arts can have within a prison setting as well as the barriers (both real and perceived) to the use of arts with prisoners. At present the arts are not part of the core programme for prisoners. Female Offenders in ScotlandPrisoner numbers continue to increase in Scotland. On 1 April 2007 the prison population stood at 7,238, but by May 2010 had increased to over 8,000. 2 The number of women going to prison, in particular, has risen at an alarming rate. Over the ten-year period from 1998/99 to 2007/08, the average daily prison population (men and women) increased by 22%. In the same ten-year period, the female prison population increased by 87% -over four times the growth experienced in the male prison population
With 20-27,000 children in Scotland experiencing a parent’s imprisonment and many more their parent’s involvement in the wider criminal justice system, it is vital that children’s needs and preferences are understood and acted upon. Parental imprisonment or involvement with the justice system short of imprisonment is a cause of deleterious chronic stress and adverse childhood experience. This 18-month participative study in Scotland was designed to establish the problems of having a parent involved in the criminal justice system and to co-produce solutions with affected families. The experiences of 14 children and young people were elicited through interviews (supplemented with input from parents and professionals), followed by a family consultation event. Schools elicited complex relationships of both stress and threat, an outlet, and a means for positive achievement despite the stressors. Schools need proactively to identify children who are struggling emotionally and to provide sensitive, discreet support. Children felt victimised by authorities and the community, experiencing devastating family disruption and loss of childhood. Community-based interventions could educate others about the impact on children of victimisation. Young people emphasised the need to humanise their experience from point-of-arrest to years after release. They sought more child-friendly prison visiting, physical contact, and meaningful activity with their parent. Parents wanted the development of parent-to-parent and young people-led support groups. A means to signpost affected families to self-support groups is needed. A model of symbiotic harm is used to offer theoretical context to the findings.
Services can play a vital role in promoting desistance from offending for those leaving prison. However, young men are the least likely group to engage with or sustain contact with support, and the most likely to return to prison. This article presents findings from a longitudinal evaluation in Scotland which highlights the often unreported wary attitude that this population have towards services, but also the ways in which this can be overcome. Ultimately, it is argued that a youth work-and solution-focused approach can be successful, and above all else the key worker's persistence in building relationships crucial.
This article reflects on the contribution of qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) to understandings of homeless peoples’ experiences of support service interventions in an era of austerity in the UK. It brings into ‘analytic conversation’ data from qualitative longitudinal evaluations of homeless support projects operated by voluntary sector organisations in Scotland. With fieldwork spanning 2014-2019, the analysis expands the analytical potential of pooling small-scale studies through an interrogation of individuals’ ‘journeys’ through homelessness services and their rough path to ‘home’. By reflecting on our substantive findings, the article explores the added value and challenges of a longitudinal approach. It concludes that while QLR can deliver deep insight into lives lived by vulnerable populations and potentially reduce the distance between policy makers and those affected, its benefits must be balanced against pragmatism and the ethical responsibilities associated with the method.
The Independent Care Review�s �The Promise�, published in February 2020, sets out an ambition for Scotland �to be the best place in the world to grow up� so that children are �loved, safe, and respected and realise their full potential�. A key foundation of this work is the inclusion of the voices of young people so they are involved in decision making. This article reports on the project �Life As We Know It�, which has involved a small group of young adults from across Scotland with experience of care being involved in participatory evaluations, and in turn reflecting on issues of voice in relation to when they were younger. The project, which was conducted throughout the pandemic, used participatory video methods, creative writing, music, and the creation of Zines, which are self-published booklets of original or appropriated texts and images, as effective evaluative tools for personal reflection and research. The learning has highlighted the benefits of using the arts to help young people shape and mould the stories they want to tell. This project has shown the importance of support, the value of having an ethics of care and reflective stance, and the need to emphasise the progress made but also in turn help young people find their voice about where improvements in policy and practice are needed. This article argues that there is a need to carefully consider the ways in which young people�s voices are heard, and that the arts offers a unique opportunity for this process to be enjoyable as well as meaningful.
This article presents unique findings from research in Scotland of the long-term impact of arts projects on young people living in poverty. Through the support of creative skilled practitioners sensitive to their challenges, these initiatives provided spaces of inspiration for young people to feel seen and heard, and their area not completely forgotten. Crucially, this promoted bridging social capital or access to opportunities outside of their local environment. The young people, reflecting more than five years on from their engagement, reported that it had increased their wellbeing, confidence, hopes for the future, reduced isolation, and for some, had opened up career pathways, thus mediating against some of the effects of poverty. In an increasingly challenging funding environment and uncertain times, it is vital that the impact of the arts is understood in policy contexts, and these are accessible to young people, from all walks of life as a right.
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