While research on supported desistance is increasing, little is known about practitioners’ experiences of facilitating change following release in Norway. This article seeks to expand this knowledge through the perspectives of probation caseworkers and staff of penal voluntary organizations. Despite their common challenges and shared ideals, the two groups experience varying ability to assist in change processes. While staff of voluntary organizations practice close to the ideal, caseworkers describe frustration at an increased risk focus and thus a decrease in desistance promotion. In this context, we discuss how two key developments in Norwegian resettlement practice, (1) increased discrepancies between ideals and realities and (2) the blurring of boundaries between penal voluntary organizations and the Correctional Services, are shifting probation work away from supporting desistance.
Re-entry to society is challenging and inmates often feel unprepared for release. Insufficient human and social capital makes it difficult to cope with the challenges of everyday life outside prison. In Norway the aim of prisoner rehabilitation is to counteract new criminal acts, and make it possible for the convicted person to change his or her criminal patterns. This qualitative study aimed to explore and describe inmates' perceptions and experiences of how they were prepared for release from a Norwegian open prison. Three focus group interviews with inmates were conducted. A thematic content analysis of the data resulted in three categories: 1) life outside, 2) working as a community and 3) useful learning for the future. Our findings indicate that inmates were prepared in several ways to return to the society. One aspect was the social climate where inmates were treated with humanity by staff. Inmates received training in local democracy, and developed hope for the future, self-reliance and personal agency, which strengthened their process of preparing for release. Inhibiting factors seemed to be an emotional vulnerability, inadequate preparation for modern working life and poorly planned release preparation. This study indicates the importance of maintaining open prisons with humanistic values.
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