Newcastle University

Developing interest and expertise in the Research Centre for Learning and Teaching

As the only university recognised research centre within ECLS, and with numerous researchers and lecturers involved, CfLaT’s research interests are diverse in content and context, though linked by over-arching themes. One such developing theme is that of offender rehabilitation and education, which has been a research interest of at least two CfLaT members - Jill Clark and Karen Laing for many years, in fact, since 1992! Early research focused on community-based offender rehabilitation and education, where Jill worked on several projects in the Centre for Research on Crime, Policing and the Community in Newcastle University (which then became known as the Newcastle Centre for Family Studies).

The first project was an evaluation of an Intensive Probation Programme, funded by the Leverhulme Trust. In 1989, ten probation services in England and Wales were invited to set up experimental programmes of Intensive Probation as part of the government's strategy for promoting 'punishment in the community'. The objective was to divert offenders from custody, but simultaneously to ensure that criminal behaviour was not treated lightly. The programmes had three main objectives: to reduce re-offending; to improve the offender's attitude and way of life; and to reduce the number of young people receiving custodial sentences. The main objectives of the research were to evaluate the Intensive Probation Programme set up in Newcastle by the Northumbria Probation Service and to assess its impact on offenders' behaviour, attitudes and re-offending. The research examined the process of intervention, the ways in which young offenders interact and respond to such intensive group-work experiences, and the impact of IP programmes on the supervision process. Research methodology consisted of observation of the programmes; interviews with young offenders during and after intervention; interviews with probation staff; and offender profiling [1] [2].

We were invited to conduct a small qualitative study of young offenders subject to Intensive Probation programmes in Durham, funded by Durham County Probation Service. This research complemented a quantitative study undertaken by the Home Office Research Unit. The main objective of the study was to understand the processes through which those offenders selected for the Gate project interacted with the programme and the impact this had on lifestyle and behaviour in both the short and long term. The research was qualitative and adopted a case study, life history approach selecting a sample of clients to explore some of the wider issues raised by the project. In-depth interviews were conducted with Gate clients at the start of their contract with the programme. We endeavoured to 'track' the sample of clients through the programme in order to interview them again 2-3 months into the project, and documented the following:

• clients' self-reported criminal career and any factors that could be perceived as contributory, e.g. socio-economic background, lifestyle, family, education etc.
• clients' prior motivations and expectations of the programme
• clients' experiences and attitudes towards the programme
• any subsequent changes in lifestyle and offending behaviour.

Wherever possible we interviewed each client's referring officer [3] [6].

These studies led on to a further programme of evaluation work in the area of community-based punishment, and we were invited to evaluate an Artists in Residence Programme, funded jointly by Northumbria Probation Service and the Artists’ Agency (now Helix Arts). At the time there was a continued search for disposals that would enable offenders to remain in the community, and to be constructively occupied in activities that affect their attitudes and behaviour. During the two years beginning October 1991, Northumbria Probation Service, in partnership with the Artists' Agency, hosted four artists in residence at the five Probation Day Centres located in the Northumbria area. The artists - a ceramicist, a writer/playwright, a musician/composer, and a photographer. - each undertook a six-month residency, working with young offenders aged between 17 and 25 years.

The research employed a range of methodologies, from obtaining data from probation-service and artist-agency records to conducting interviews with offenders, artists and probation personnel [4] [5]. A key feature was participant observation in the day centres with a researcher working alongside the clients in their artistic endeavours. The research was primarily a qualitative study, seeking an understanding of the process of interaction between offenders, artists and probation staff, and the ways in which the experience is seen by the participants to provide benefits and create the possibilities for changes in attitudes and behaviour. As a result of this work, a key publication was launched: Changeways [8].

Although a wealth of data was collected, the publication is limited to an examination of a number of key themes which reflect concerns about the partnership between arts and offenders and to an exploration of social impacts. For a summary of the report, please click here.

Further artists residencies were hosted, firstly in bail hostels, and later with Community Service offenders, featuring a toy-maker [7] and a sculptor. We were invited to extend our previous evaluation of artists in residence to conduct an exploratory, qualitative study of new project provided in bail hostels on Tyneside. The Artists' Agency placed a visual artist in residency at two local probation-run bail hostels. We were approached to evaluate the programme, recognising that this would add to, and indeed complement, our evaluative work. The key objective of the research was to evaluate impact on three distinct populations: the hostel residents; the artist; and the hostel staff. Data was obtained through interviews with the artist, with the bailees and with hostel staff and probation personnel to provide in-depth insight into participants' perceptions, attitudes, changes in creativity etc. Participant observation was undertaken to examine the process of creative development, and to enable comparisons to be made between the two hostels.

More recent work has included a research study funded by the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA), who commissioned us to complete an evaluation of the impact of ESB Oral Communication Skills in HM Prisons. The purpose of this study was ‘to build a picture of the delivery of interventions which seek to improve the thinking skills of prisoners’ and thereby to contextualise the ESB courses in oral communication. We were especially interested in the potential impact of these interventions on re-offending, employment and lifelong learning. The research project was planned as follows:

(1) A postal survey carried out in prisons in England and Wales to ascertain which courses are believed by prison staff to help develop thinking skills;
(2) A retrospective study to evaluate the impact on recidivism of taking an ESB oral communication course during the period of the Lottery-funded project 1999-2002;
(3) A prospective experimental study was planned to test the hypothesis that, after successfully completing ESB courses, prisoners are able to communicate better with fellow inmates and prison staff; and
(4) Four case studies, using largely qualitative methods, to compare different approaches to the development of thinking skills.

There have been several publications arising from this research, and the final report(s) [9] [10] can be downloaded here. The report has been received (and reviewed) positively by agencies such as the Basic Skills Agency, the Forum on Prisoner Education and the Literacy Trust. Other publications [11] and [12] have also been published to a positive reaction. The book [11] offers a unique collection of chapters (all peer-reviewed) from politicians, campaigners, tutors, academics and prisoners. Published by the Forum on Prisoner Education, the book has had a high political profile and was used in the Select Committee Inquiry on prison education.

Jill and Ian Hall have also worked together in areas of wider education reforms, with an emphasis on pupil voice and a focus on re-engaging NEETs and the disadvantaged [13]. Many offenders experience various forms of disadvantage and initiatives in mainstream education may help to divert young people from disengagement and crime.

Karen Laing has been involved in many studies of interventions to support families and young people. Early research focussed around services to support families undergoing family breakdown, and following this project, her interests widened to explore the experiences of more vulnerable families generally. She was invited to be part of the evaluation team for a preventative programme for children at risk of offending that involved the provision of multiple interventions to meet identified need, funded by the Home Office. The team found that, preceding the development of the Common Assessment Framework (CAF), pilots were unsure of how to assess need in relation to vulnerable children who did not meet the thresholds for social care intervention.

The team were then tasked to produce a guide to assessment of children at risk of crime and antisocial behaviour, which was published by the then Department for Education and Skills. This guide was found to be a useful practice document as assessments such as ONSET and CAF were still under development.
Following this work, the team produced a guide for Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships in their work with dysfunctional families, and with evaluating the Youth Inclusion and Support Panels (YISP), set up by the DfES to encourage a multi-agency response to crime prevention work with 8-13 year olds. These panels met to discuss children who had been assessed using ONSET, in order to share information, and offer interventions that may be of value in reducing the risk of these children becoming involved, or further involved, in crime and antisocial behaviour.

The team also conducted a study that built on the concept of risk and resilience in children’s outcomes, aiming to explore the intergenerational cycle of offending in some families. We interviewed prisoners, and their family members, including children, to understand more about the link and the processes and pathways behind it. This study was part of a larger ESRC network looking at pathways into and out of crime [14]. More recently, Karen has been working closely with a number of Local Authorities, in evaluating the Budget Holding Lead Practitioner Pilot and the BHLP pilot for Children in Care [15] [16]. These pilots build upon the advances in children’s services in recent years, and are based utilising the CAF in order to identify additional needs, which can then be explored at a Team Around the Child (or family) meeting, and a solution focussed package of intervention tailored, co-ordinated and funded based on the needs identified, rather than the services available in an area. Following this work around vulnerable families, Karen moved on to work as part of a team (with Professor Liz Todd, Colleen Cummings and Ian Hall) evaluating extended schools. A particular focus within the extended schools agenda has been to identify, target and deliver preventative services to vulnerable children and young people.

We hope to continue to develop our research into offender education and rehabilitation and if you would like to commission or collaborate in such research, or find out more about our work in this area, please contact Jill Clark.

Related Publications:

[1] Walker, J. and Clark, J. Punishment in the Community: An evaluation of Intensive Probation Programmes. 1994. Newcastle upon Tyne: Relate Centre for Family Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

[2] Clark, J. and Walker, J. Punishment in the Community: An Evaluation of the Newcastle Intensive Probation Programme. Findings Paper 1995. University of Newcastle upon Tyne: Relate Centre for Family Studies.

[3] Clark, J. and Walker, J. Opening the GATE for Persistent Young Offenders: An Evaluation of the Gate Intensive Probation Programme. Findings Paper 1995. Newcastle upon Tyne: Relate Centre for Family Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

[4] Walker, J. and Clark, J. Working with offenders in the Community: An evaluation of artists in residence programmes. 1995. Newcastle upon Tyne: Relate Centre for Family Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

[5] Clark, J. and Salamon, E. Working with Young Offenders. National Campaign for the Arts 1995, 36(Autumn 1995).

[6] Clark, J. and Walker, J. Opening the GATE for Persistent Young Offenders: An Evaluation of the Gate Intensive Probation Programme. 1996. Newcastle upon Tyne: Relate Centre for Family Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

[7] Clark, J. and Walker, J. An Evaluation of the Toymaker-in-residence working with Community Service clients. 1998. Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle Centre for Family Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

[8] Walker, J.and Clark, J. Changeways: Artists in Probation. Newcastle: Newcastle Centre for Family Studies, 2000.

[9] Moseley, D., Clark, J., Baumfield, V., Hall, E., Hall, I., Miller, J., Blench, G., Gregson, M. and Spedding, T. Developing oral communication and productive thinking skills in HM Prisons. 2006. London: Learning and Skills Research Centre. Download here.

[10] Moseley, D., Clark, J., Hall, E., Miller, J., Gregson, M., Baumfield, V. and Elliot, J. Evaluation of the impact of ESB Oral Communications Courses in HM Prisons: Second Progress Report. 2004. University of Newcastle upon Tyne: Centre for Learning and Teaching.

[11] Clark, J., Hall, I. and Moseley, D. Educational, vocational and ‘thinking skills’ provision in HM Prisons: Results from a national survey. In: Steve Taylor, ed. Prison(er) Education: Stories of Change and Transformation. Forum on Prisoner Education, 2006. Download here.

[12] Clark, J.. Perspectives of Enhanced Thinking Skills in Prisons in the United Kingdom: A Qualitative Case Study. British Journal of Forensic Practice 2006, 8(1), 12-23.

[13] Clark, J., Thomas, U., Cummings, C., Briggs, A. and Hall, I.. (2008) Emerging insights into NEET preventative work across Tyne and Wear: flexible Curriculum 2 (FCP2) 14-19 Progression and Employability. Research Centre for Learning and Teaching: Newcastle University. Download here.

[14] Laing, K. and McCarthy, P. (2005) ‘Risk, Protection and Resilience in the Family Life of Children and Young People with a Parent in Prison: A literature review’. Download here.

[15] Walker, J., Donaldson, C., Pennington, M., Laing, K., Dickinson, H., Wilson, G., Thompson, C., Procter, S., Bradley, D., Coombes, M. and Gray, J. (2009) Evaluating Budget-holding in Lead Professionals Within Multi-agency Children’s Services in England (DCSF). Download here.

[16] Walker, J., Laing, K., Wilson, G. and Pennington, M. (2010) Budget-holding Lead Professionals for Looked After Children (DCSF).

Laing, K. and McCarthy, P. (2000) ‘Individual information meetings’ in J. Walker (ed.) Information Meetings and Associated Provision Within the Family Law Act 1996: Final Evaluation Report to the Lord Chancellor’s Department, Vol. 1, pp.131-62. www.dca.gov.uk/family/fla/fullrep.pdf;

McCarthy, P. and Laing, K. (2000) ‘Receiving information in a group’ in J. Walker (ed.) op.cit., pp.163-204;

Stark, C., Laing, K. and McCarthy, P. (2000) ‘Giving information to parents’ in J. Walker (ed.) op.cit., pp.507-36;

Stark, C., Laing, K. and Richards, M. (2000) ‘Developing and using a parenting plan’ in J. Walker (ed.) op.cit., pp.577-98.