A Qualitative Study of an Employment Scheme for Mentors with Lived Experience of Offending Within a Multi-Agency Mental Health Project for Excluded Young People

Abstract

The use of peer intervention schemes is increasingly popular within services for offending groups and there is growing evidence of their benefit for peers delivering the interventions. The current study explores staff and peer experiences of an employment scheme for peer mentors within a community project for young people involved in offending. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with full time staff (n=4) and peer mentors employed on the scheme (n=2). Thematic analysis revealed three themes of "Opportunity and Empowerment", "Supportive Processes" and "Role Definition and Structure". The results suggest that meaningful employment opportunities, with holistic support and processes for reflection and mentalisation of self and others, contribute to the personal and professional development of ex-offenders in peer mentoring roles.

‘I (really) know what you mean’. Mechanisms of experiential peer support for young people with criminal behavior: a qualitative study

“…In addition, studies have found that building a trusting relationship is important (Kavanagh and Borrill 2013;Matthews et al 2019;Barrenger, Hamovitch, and Rothman 2019;Thomas et al 2019) and that it may be easier for EPs to achieve this with clients due to their shared identity (Barrenger, Stanhope, and Atterbury 2017;Portillo, Goldberg, and Taxman 2017;Reingle Gonzalez et al 2019). Lastly, studies showed that EPs act as a bridge between clients and staff (Hodgson et al 2019;Barrenger, Hamovitch, and Rothman 2019) and that they make referrals or connect clients to services related to housing, mental health, education and employment (Marlow et al 2015;Portillo, Goldberg, and Taxman 2017;Thomas et al 2019).…”

“It’s a Big Family Here.” Becoming and Belonging in a Service Providing Employment-Related Support for People with Mental Health Problems: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

“…In fact, few of them had experienced this previously. Prior research suggests that nurturing environments with supportive and accepting relationships have a positive effect on recovery (De Malmanche & Robertson, 2015 ; Doroud et al, 2018 ), yet there can be challenges in forming this kind of relationship within the workplace (Tangvald-Pederson & Bongaardt, 2017 ; Hodgson et al, 2019 ). The sense of belonging can be limited at first until acceptance has been received.…”

“…The sense of belonging can be limited at first until acceptance has been received. This sense can become stronger as an individual chooses how they want to continue to belong in the workplace (Hodgson et al, 2019 ). Additionally, ambivalence can occur in wanting to be looked after and cared for, whilst also wanting professional appreciation (Tangvald-Pederson & Bongaardt, 2017 ), as indicated by the final superordinate theme in the present study, safety or ‘not a real job?’.…”

“…However, the present study suggests that experiential aspects and work relationships may be vital for recovery. A recent study found that supported mainstream employment had the greatest impact on quality of life for those recovering from mental health problems when it included mechanisms for shared recognition of achievement and mutual support (Hodgson et al, 2019 ). The current findings, though based on a small sample, suggest not only that such relational factors may be important, but also that it is important to listen carefully to the perspectives of those in recovery about the socially valued roles they are seeking, and the kinds of environments in which they would prefer to develop these roles.…”

An Exploration of Employment-Related Personal Projects Undertaken by Women on Probation and Parole

“…Providing women with comprehensive information regarding employment agencies that focus on offender job placement can improve women’s employment outcomes, as social support from employment agencies produced positive effects for some women in our sample. Cooperation and collaboration of probation and parole departments with multiple agencies and potential employers have been shown to be helpful to offenders (Hodgson et al, 2019). Given that many women experienced structural barriers related to their offender status, building collaborative relationships between employers, employment agencies, parole and probation agents, and women under supervision can improve the efficacy of the job search process and mitigate the challenges that a criminal record presents.…”