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Showing impact case studies 1 to 2 of 2
Submitting institution
Newman University
Unit of assessment
20 - Social Work and Social Policy
Summary impact type
Societal
Is this case study continued from a case study submitted in 2014?
No

1. Summary of the impact

This pioneering and innovative project, delivered in partnership with Revolving Doors Agency, facilitated service-user involvement in substantive changes to (and the commissioning of) Probation and Prison services across the UK. As well as a direct and transformative impact on those directly involved (ex-offenders, offenders and staff) new empirical research findings led to significant changes in practice and policy in the field of offender management, both nationally and internationally, with project recommendations and resources reaching beyond the UK into Europe, South America and the Far East.

2. Underpinning research

Between 2014 and 2016, Dr Mike Seal led a research project working in partnership with the Revolving Doors Agency ( http://www.revolving-doors.org.uk/why-were-here). Revolving Doors is a charity based in London working across England and Wales that works with adults with multiple and complex needs who are in repeat contact with the criminal justice system (the ‘revolving door’ of prison, release and reoffending). This repeat contact is often driven by associated needs and issues such as poor mental health, substance use and homelessness. Revolving Doors was commissioned by the National Offender Management Service and The Ministry of Justice to develop materials to support service-user involvement in the criminal justice system and to test and review service-user involvement practice in Probation and Prison services. Following an initial scoping exercise and literature review into historical and existing approaches to client involvement in these services, service-users from two Probation Trusts were trained in participatory research methods and supported to conduct qualitative research within Hertfordshire (Watford) and Bedfordshire (Luton) Probation Services, HMP Norwich and HMP Holloway, with staff, clients and managers. In Watford, the research team examined client and worker understandings of care and support, housing issues, experiences of employment services, the interface between Probation and the Prison services and experience of community payback. In Bedfordshire the research focused on client experiences of reception services, client/staff relationships and perceptions of sentence planning. These insights into service-user involvement approaches were then extended into the arena of service commissioning via the Commissioning Together project; a three-year project (2014-2017) supported by the City of London Corporation's charity, City Bridge Trust. This work involved offenders and ex-offenders in the service participating in the commissioning of services in the London Boroughs of Wandsworth and Barking & Dagenham. Service-users were trained in research methods and supported to examine services for ex-offenders and offenders in their Boroughs. A final stage of the project involved the roll-out of the Handbooks with Mike and project participants acting as consultants to a series of Action Learning Sets in other Probation services nationally. This led on to the commissioning of new services nationally with the aim of improving health and reducing re-offending through more effective integration of services and improved pathways in the community. Findings were then presented at the National International Offender Management Conference.

3. References to the research

Seal, M. (2018) Participatory Pedagogic Impact Research: Co-production with Community Partners in Action. Routledge: London

Seal, M. (2016) Service user Involvement with Offenders in the Community. London: RDA

Available at:

Accessed 20/1/21

Seal, M. (2016) Improving your Prisoner Involvement Systems: A Toolkit for Staff. London: RDA.

Available at: http://www.revolving-doors.org.uk/involvement/peer-research/noms-toolkits

Accessed 20/1/21

Seal, M. (2016) Running a Peer Research Project with Offenders in the Community: A Handbook for Staff. London: RDA

Available at:

http://www.revolving-doors.org.uk/involvement/peer-research/noms-toolkits

Accessed 20/1/21

4. Details of the impact

The project was delivered in 2 broad streams, both of which aimed to improve understanding of the value and the logistical challenges involved in implementing rigorous peer research and service-user involvement in commissioning of criminal justice services. Several concrete outputs were produced, all of which were significant in terms of producing changes to practice, policy and user engagement.

These included:

Practice guidelines and 3 service toolkits for use by Prison and Probation services, endorsed by the National Offender Management Service and the UK Ministry of Justice.

Running a Peer Research Project with Offenders in the Community: A Handbook for Staff

http://www.revolving-doors.org.uk/file/1865/download%3Ftoken%3DmrEpVlaa

set out how to implement a peer research project with offenders in the community

Improving Your Prisoner Involvement Systems: A Toolkit for Staff

focused on how to improve prisoner involvement implementation systems,

Service User Involvement with Offenders in the Community: A Toolkit for Staff

provided guidance on how to create service user involvement with offenders in the community.

Outputs also included a book on Participatory Pedagogic Impact ResearchCo-production with Community Partners in Action (Seal, 2018), leaflets designed by clients and still used by services, and a film which has become a main resource in a number of training programmes for Probation.

Impact on participants

There was a direct and transformative impact on the service-users who were involved in the research project as peer researchers. Some went on to form a Community Interest Company and were in turn commissioned to undertake training on the client experience for services in other areas. We have testimonies from participants that the project contributed to their permanent desistance from crime and to them gaining employment on the basis of their participation in the project. A least one of the participants has gone on to become a consultant, advising in the area of service user involvement. Other group members went on to become independent researchers through the Revolving Doors Peer Research Network. We also have testimonies from Probation and Prison service staff and management about how the project changed their perception of clients and the benefit the project has had in terms of creating systemic cultural change.

Impact on Probation and Prison services nationally

Following a meeting with the Ministry of Justice, the Service toolkits and guidance (designed for probation and prison staff, including managers and prison governors) were incorporated into a nationwide training programme. Probation and Prison services were supported in implementing the guides and toolkits within their services. The guidance on peer research was piloted within two joint commissioning services and this led to a series of recommendations to the commissioners in those Boroughs. This continued for two more years with a number of Probation services participating. The findings of the Commissioning Together project were presented at the National IOM Conference in 2016 to an audience of commissioners from across the country, many of whom went on to work with Revolving Doors in changing their commissioning processes. Commissioners in Wandsworth and Barking & Dagenham are currently using the insight gained from the research in their Strategic Needs Assessments for the 2017-2020 commissioning cycle.

The Revolving Doors Agency has identified clear evidence of improved local services and service pathways:

  • “In Wandsworth our work resulted in a new criminal justice pathway for individuals with mental health needs, improved transitions between services, the secondment of a mental health practitioner and redesign of the personality disorder pathway”.

And in Barking and Dagenham, research findings have, according to Revolving Doors Agency:

“strengthened co-commissioning of substance misuse and domestic abuse, driving the development of a new substance misuse specification that requires providers to address the needs of survivors of domestic violence and abuse. Individuals involved in the project gained new skills and confidence. The project has supported their individual recoveries from problems, such as substance misuse and mental ill health, and their engagement in and commitment to their local communities”.

In Bedfordshire new training was developed for reception staff and the reception building was physically changed. The group of service users produced a video about client staff relationships that was adopted as training material for Bedfordshire and three other Probation services. The same group also produced a leaflet for clients on how to get the most out of probation. This was adopted by 4 Probation services across the region. In Hertfordshire a new service-user reference group was set up to monitor the implementation of recommendations and protocols in housing and prison services. In Wandsworth commissioning procedures were changed and a new client reference group established. Some of the members went on to form their own social enterprise which was then commissioned to undertake further research and conduct training with staff. In Dagenham a video on effective client and worker relationships has been adopted by 4 probation services in their core training. The spirit of the project also continues through the Revolving Doors “Experts by Experience” scheme where offenders an ex-offenders regularly talk to MP’s, Select Committees and a network of researchers across the country.

Impact on Probation and Prison Services internationally

The research team was asked to speak at the International Offender Management 2016 (London) and World Congress of Probation (2016) about the project. The peer researchers on the project presented a leaflet advising how to make the most of time on probation and a booklet dealing with the experience of a first night in prison (‘First Night’). These resources were subsequently adopted by Probation and Prison services in Japan, Peru, Mexico, Taiwan, Brazil, Italy and Poland.

5. Sources to corroborate the impact

  1. Revolving Doors Agency, South Bank Technopark, 90 London Road, London SE1 6LN

  2. The project toolkits are available to view and download at:

http://www.revolving-doors.org.uk/involvement/peer-research/noms-toolkits

  1. The handbook for staff is also included among the social welfare collection at the British Library: Running a peer research project with offenders in the community - The British Library (bl.uk)

  2. The facilitation and training work by Mike Seal is referenced in Terry, l. and Cardwell, (2016) Refreshing Perspectives: Exploring the application of peer research with populations facing severe and multiple disadvantage. London: RDA. Available at http://www.revolving-doors.org.uk/file/1849/download?token=Yi0tjhmo Accessed 20/1/21

  3. Mike Seal was one of the presenters at the second seminar of Revolving Doors’ research network which discussed how and why to use peer research as a methodology in building the evidence base around severe and multiple disadvantage: Seminar Presentations | Revolving Doors (revolving-doors.org.uk)

Submitting institution
Newman University
Unit of assessment
20 - Social Work and Social Policy
Summary impact type
Societal
Is this case study continued from a case study submitted in 2014?
No

1. Summary of the impact

The aim of the Touch project was to examine, and thereby improve, how youth work can respond to violence both between, and directed at, young people in the EU. As well as a direct and transformative impact on all the project participants and partners, the transnational and innovative nature of the project meant we could create, through an expansive dissemination strategy, profound impact on the social ‘problem’ of youth violence beyond national boundaries, and raise public awareness of how youth workers might meaningfully respond to it. Learning from the project has been directly incorporated into the educational and training regimes of youth workers and other professional communities. Findings reached policy-makers, academic institutions, NGO’s, youth workers and young people across Europe, through a research monograph, guidelines for youth work practice, international academic and practitioner conferences, a round table discussion with European policy makers in Brussels, and a documentary film.

2. Underpinning research

Led by Mike Seal and Pete Harris, and overseen by a steering management group made up of government policy advisors and academics, the Touch project was funded (£442,000) via the EU Daphne III program. It involved building partnerships with Islington Borough Council, London; West Bowling Youth Initiative, Bradford; Jugendstreetwork, Caritas Der Graz-Seckau, Austria; Rheinflanke gGmbh, Cologne, Germany; The Federation For Detached Youth Work, UK and Dynamo International, Belgium. Two British young people, both of whom had direct experience of violence, were recruited as peer researchers. The research team made a series of visits to the 4 locations. 50 youth workers and 170 young people from a range of ethnic backgrounds participated, all of whom had some experience or involvement in violence either as perpetrators, witnesses, or victims.

Research activity incorporated workshops based on community philosophy, focus groups, case studies, semi-structured interviews, seminars and conferences, and a range of audio-visual techniques including music composition and recording, photography, visualisation, diagramming and role play. Much of this robust research activity was incorporated into youth work activities including group work, sports-based work, and residential experiences in youth hostels. As part of our commitment to participatory methods, a film company not only documented the research process and produced an hour-long documentary, but also supported young people in creating films of their own. These centred on their perceptions of the area where they lived and what part violence played in their lives. The whole project design meant therefore that all empirical data was co-produced and disseminated with youth workers and young people as full partners.

3. References to the research

  1. Harris, P. and Seal, M. (2016) Responding to Youth Violence Through Youth Work, Bristol: Policy Press. (Book/Research Monograph) Listed in REF2

4. Details of the impact

The project research monograph “Responding to Youth Violence Through Youth Work” (published 2016) is now regularly used as a teaching resource (on module reading lists) for Youth and Community Work training courses in the UK and Europe. It will form part of new plans to introduce youth violence training for youth workers currently being considered by the National Youth Agency in the UK (See ref. Workforce Development Officer National Youth Agency below). Over 2000 copies of the “Guidelines For Youth Workers” publication were distributed at European conferences and these have been formally adopted by the leading practitioner network in the UK (The Federation for Detached Youth Work, see Sources to corroborate the Impact below) and Europe (Dynamo international). The documentary film has also been incorporated into youth work educational and training programmes and courses for workers in related fields. For example, the sport education provider Street Games were commissioned to engage their national network of sports providers as part of the Home Office ‘Building Stronger Britain Together’ (BSBT) programme. A Touch partner and facilitator (from The Federation for Detached Youth Work, see Sources to corroborate the Impact below) was able to use the film as an evidence base and stimulus for philosophical enquiry, particularly about questions of professional identity.

Following our presentation of the findings to the European Parliament (11/12/12) the Styrian Regional Government in Austria passed a motion in their parliament about the right of young people to be in public space, citing the research as an influence. The Public Health Intelligence Team (PHIT) at Birmingham City Council also cited the Touch Research in a report which led to the development of violence related services for young people. We also provided evidence to the ‘call for evidence’ for the ‘Youth Violence: Community and Youth Services Parliamentary Commission’. We have testimonials about the impact of the Touch project and research on individual young people, from the young people themselves and the youth workers. Both peer researchers went on to full time employment and further study; one has set up a community organisation, completed a Masters degree and contributed a book chapter. Pete Harris has given key note talks conferences based on the Touch research in the UK, Denmark and Malta; the latter was attended by the Minister for Youth on the island. The team continues to be asked to comment on media stories relating to youth violence. For example, the editor of Children and Young People Now interviewed Pete Harris following a recent spate of knife attacks in London and commissioned an opinion piece on the relationship between social media and youth violence. (see Project Partners in Sources to corroborate the Impact below)

The original, service-user informed insights generated via the Project have led to the setting of new agendas within youth workforce development and contributed to debates around intervention methodologies, professional identities of youth workers, managerial and evaluation regimes and the ‘problem’ of youth violence, an area that presents considerable conceptual and logistical challenges, especially in terms of user engagement and inter-agency collaboration. Project findings were disseminated in 2 broad categories: practice and policy. Practice recommendations included calls for a re-framing of youth work within this practice context and a re-examination of youth worker-young people relationships. We made specific suggestions designed to maximise the desistance promoting potential of youth work, including detailed guidance on how to build trust within relationships and how to engage with young men and women who are not accessing existing services. We also called for, and provided illustrative case studies of, a number of themed practical initiatives in music, drama and sport and made specific recommendations for improving the training and CPD regimes of youth workers, especially in relation to building the skills of ‘home-grown’ workers from within communities affected by violence. Our report also gave practical advice to managers on how to reduce bureaucracy, allow workers to opt out from corporate identification, conduct meaningful risk assessments and make changes to worker job descriptions. (See Sources to corroborate the Impact below)

Policy recommendations included calling for regular policy round-tables, reducing emphasis on ‘disabling’ policies such as targeted approaches in favour of ‘targeting through universalism’, ensuring adequate space for worker reflection, a call for long term funding and a reduction in commissioning and contracting regimes. These recommendations have catalysed calls for an end to moves towards de-professionalisation within youth work, and provided impetus for a number of new initiatives including the development of a Masters degree in street-based youth work. We also called for an end to social policy narratives that demonise young people who gather in public space by simplistically identifying them as a threat to others and for formal recognition of the positive value of young people’s social mixing in public space. We were able to make significant contributions to theory building in a number of related areas, introducing new theoretical concepts such as the value of ‘proxy trust’ and ‘near-peer’ experiences, and the shortcomings of ‘chasing violence’. The project was externally evaluated and the evaluation concluded that our findings will remain an important point of reference for the field, continuing to influence practice and policy in youth work and criminal justice. (see Sources to corroborate the Impact below)

5. Sources to corroborate the impact

1.Project toolkit: Touch: European Street Violence Project | Daphne Toolkit (europa.eu)

2.The Federation for Detached Youth Work says:

“As part of the Home Office ‘Building Stronger Britain Together’ (BSBT) programme Street Games I was commissioned to engage their national network of sports providers in BSBT. There was an emphasis on supporting their practitioners (mostly sports coaches) to develop critical thinking skills. I put together a programme based on Community Philosophy methodology, using the Touch project as an evidence-base. In this, I used video clips from the Touch documentary as a stimulus for thinking about youth work identities, and how they can be promoted to wider, diverse, audiences and stakeholders. Practitioners have confirmed that when they are in a multi-agency partnership, where, as a youth worker, they are getting bullied into some corrupted version of ‘youth work’, they have been able to push the book forward, and say: “see this, this says …”. I envisage Touch being really useful as the state tries to incorporate youth workers in to the Serious Youth Violence agenda”.

3.Workforce Development Officer National Youth Agency can be contacted directly to verify how the Touch project can form part of the NYA’s plans for youth workforce development.

  1. Project Partners (all can be contacted to corroborate impact)

a. Jugenstreetwork, Graz, Austria

b. West Bowling Youth Initiative, Bradford, http://www.wbyi.co.uk/ c. Islington Borough Targeted Youth Support Team, London, UK http://www.islington.gov.uk/services/children-families/cs-about-childrens-servic…

d. Rheinflanke, gGmbh, Cologne, Germany

e. Dynamo International

dynamo-int@travail-de-rue.net http://www.travail-de-rue.net

f. Chocolate Films, London, UK

http://www.chocolatevideoproduction.co.uk/

g. West Midlands European Centre, Brusselshttps://wmie.wordpress.com/west\-midlands\-european\-centre/

5.Harris, P. Seal, M and Tiffany, G. (2014) Responding to Street Violence: Guidelines for Street Based Youth Workers. (Training Materials)

6.“Responding Meaningfully to Youth Violence through Youth Work” International Conference for Outreach Workers, Oslo, April 2015. (Conference Presentation)

7.“Project ‘Touch’ – Street Based Youth Work and Street Violence”, University of Ireland, Maynooth, 2012 (Conference Presentation)

8.Project Touch – Documentary film available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CypHrEbPEQ&feature=youtu.be

9.Young people’s films Islington and Bradford available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvu0M4zJUMA

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