STRENGTHS-BASED APPROACHES TO BUILDING JUSTICE CAPITAL IN PRISONS
Strengths-based approaches to building justice capital in prisons
Professor David Best
Straight talking: Preliminary findings from a peer mentoring trial
Claire Seppings
Strengths-based approaches to building justice capital in prisons
While prison is associated with risk management and a governance of
containment and deficits, rehabilitation remains an aim that informs a
range of prison activities – education, peer-based approaches,
family visits, and recreation activities. The conceptual frame for the
presentation will be two-fold: 1) a positive criminology model that
draws on relational, strengths-based and future-focused activities,
and 2) introducing the new concept of justice capital (Hamilton et al,
2020) to refer to the resources available in custodial settings
promote and support rehabilitation and effective reintegration. The
seminar will describe three strengths-based approaches in UK prisons:
1. The Family Connectors approach used to engage families in
reintegration efforts based on interests and abilities at HMP Kirkham
2. The Outside In programme to build bridges to the community and to
ensure that the prison actively contributes to community wellbeing at
HMP Wymott
3. The Drug Recovery Programme at HMP Holme House where recovery
capital has been introduced as the metric for measuring and building
skills and resilience among prisoners
All three programs have been evaluated to show positive impact not
only on the participants but on families and the wider prison
community and culture. Evidence will be presented about the diversity
of gains although all remain early in their implementation. The
findings will be framed in the context of Justice Capital as a
potential mechanism for assessing individual strengths and resources
but also for assessing the rehabilitation potential of institutions by
mapping their capacity to nurture personal, social and community
capital.
David Best is Professor of Criminology at the University of Derby and
Honorary Professor at the School of Regulation and Global Governance
(RegNet) at the ANU. He is also Chair of the Prisons Research Network
of the British Society of Criminology. Trained as a psychologist and
criminologist, he has worked in practice, research and policy in the
areas of addiction recovery and rehabilitation of offenders. He has
authored or co-edited five books on addiction recovery and has written
more than 270 peer-reviewed journal publications, book chapters and
technical reports. In 2019, he produced a monograph entitled Pathways
to Desistance and recovery: The role of the social contagion of hope
(Policy Press) and a co-edited volume, Strength-based approaches to
crime and substance use (Routledge). David’s research interests
include recovery pathways, recovery capital and its measurement,
social identity theory and its implications for recovery, recovery and
desistance, addiction treatment effectiveness, prison and community
connections, and family experiences of addiction and recovery.
Straight talking: Preliminary findings from a peer mentoring trial
Background: Peer mentoring happens in every corner of the world.
Deakin University, in partnership with the Victorian Department of
Justice and Community Safety, has trialled an Australian-first
philanthropic-funded ‘through-the-gate’ prison peer mentoring
program in Geelong. The project was inspired by and based on Claire
Sepping’s 2015 Churchill Fellowship, which identified prevailing
thinking and recognised ‘best practice’ in international peer
mentoring programs for ex-prisoners. Programs she studied demonstrated
a significant decrease in the reoffending rates of those who have
successfully engaged with and had the support of a peer mentor. Claire
found ex-prisoners who have reformed contribute to reducing
re-offending by mentoring newly-released prisoners and advising on
improvements to service systems that enable people to live a
crime-free life. The peer mentoring model development incorporated
best practice from such overseas programs and Victorian correctional
policy and procedures. Ethically approved, the Straight Talking
program has been delivered in partnership with Marngoneet Correctional
Centre. Deakin University has undertaken a full ‘action research’
evaluation. In this presentation, Deakin University Project
Coordinator Claire Seppings will share the wide range of positive
impacts Straight Talking has experienced to date. Preliminary results
include the stability of the mentee after release; the quality of the
mentoring relationship experience; the positive impact on the peer
mentors returning to prison in this supportive way; prison staff
experiencing a positive impact engaging with ex-prisoners working
alongside them; and both staff and prisoners seeing what reintegration
success actually looks like. Only Offenders Can Stop Reoffending (the
User Voice motto). ‘Straight Talking’ is walking the talk.
Claire Sepping’s aspiration to bring about change in the criminal
justice system for those involved and impacted is driven by her
extensive professional and lived experience. In 1984, on graduating as
a Social Worker from Monash University, Melbourne with a final
placement at Winlaton Girls' Training Centre, Claire began her career
with the Department of Social Security. In 1995 she became a
Naturopath and in 1997 conducted a healthy living program in Bendigo
Prison. Claire’s lived experience comes from her journey with a
former partner and his extensive revolving prison life. In recent
years, Claire managed Centrelink’s Victorian Justice Services
Program, during which time she developed substantial relationships
with non-/government sectors. Throughout the course of this period,
her creation, establishment and evaluation of many innovative projects
to reduce recidivism and community impact for those involved gained
high-level recognition. In 2008, Claire received the Minister for
Human Services Award for Exemplary Service to Customers and
Stakeholders. In 2012, she was awarded the Victorian Custody Reference
Group ‘Access to Justice Award’. Claire was awarded a 2015
Churchill Fellowship to study the rehabilitative role of ex- offenders
as peer mentors. Her findings widely distributed, applauded, embraced
by media and conferences, and welcomed by parliamentary inquiries. In
July 2017, Deakin University received philanthropic funds to develop
and trial an Australian first innovative peer mentoring model based on
Claire’s Churchill Fellowship findings and appointed her as the peer
mentoring trial's Project Coordinator. Claire is a member of the
Women’s Correctional Services Advisory Committee and Chair of the
Victorian Custody Reference Group.
This event will be co-hosted by the ANU Centre for Social Research and
Methods and the ANU School of Regulation and Global Governance
(RegNet).
12:30-2 pm, Friday 21 February 2020
Jean Martin Room, Level 3, Beryl Rawson Building, 13 Ellery Cres, ANU
concerts
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22/02/2020 Last update