Angus Community Justice Service currently delivers five different group work programmes. Case studies will be produced for all group work programmes.
A programme requirement as a part of a Community Payback Order (CPO) is defined in the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 as a “course or other planned set of activities taking place over a period of time, and provided to individuals or groups of individuals for the purpose of addressing offending behaviour needs”
Purpose
The understanding relationships programme aims to provide an open and safe space which encourages honest discussion: to identify and address problematic relationship behaviours; help participants better understand the nature of healthy, unhealthy and abusive behaviours; develop skills to improve relationships in the future; and gain a better understanding of effective communication.
Participant criteria
Participation is not limited to the below criteria as referrals can be made by the supervising officer if there is an assessed need for relationship work, including clients with a CPO with a requirement of Unpaid work or Other activity only. Generally, participants would have committed an offence where there has been conflict within a relationship and/or communication difficulties with others, for example friends, family members, neighbours, professionals. An individual with a CPO with a Programme requirement would be compelled to attend as part of their order; however, in all other cases agreement from the individual would be sufficient, with attendance on a voluntary basis also a possibility.
In addition to this, two spaces have been reserved for clients open to children’s services and can be referred in to engage on a voluntary basis. This aims to address early intervention in line with better joint working between services for the needs and protection of children. To be eligible clients should be willing to engage with the programme and must not have any pending convictions of a domestic nature.
The programme
The previous ‘Positive Relationships’ programme was redesigned and developed, resulting in the current Understanding Relationships programme being established. Two groups of eight sessions have been delivered in Angus since March 2017. Prior to the beginning of the group there are pre-group interviews to meet the facilitators / discuss motivation and several pieces of ‘prep’ work which is introduced to the client by their supervising officer. The first session includes a ‘needs’ based assessment on the types of attitudes and behaviours the participants want to change. The remaining sessions are tailored to meet participants’ needs within a set framework which includes dealing with emotions; healthy, unhealthy, abusive relationships, the impact of social media, sexually healthy relationships, loss, change and moving forward. The last session is for feedback and reinforcing themes discussed over the sessions.
The groups were facilitated by two to three Community Justice Social Work staff, in addition to a peer mentor who completed the first programme and assisted in the delivery of the second programme.
A range of group work tools and techniques have been developed by the service, led by the programme facilitators to support participants’ engagement and learning. Materials are regularly reviewed and updated in line with feedback.
Group facilitators work closely with case supervisors starting with the referral to the group to ensure that individuals are well prepared and motivated to participate in the group; are supported to participate, enabled to learn, able to apply their learning in other contexts; and supported to follow up any goals set.
The participants
A total of 16 participants have attended the understanding relationship group since the beginning of 2017. The participants were all male with an average age of 30, ages ranging between 19 and 43 years with 31 percent having a programme requirement as part of their Community Payback Order. 81 percent of participants had a CPO, 12 percent were on licence and one individual who had completed their CPO attended the programme voluntarily. Almost 90 percent of those who started the programme completed and participants’ attendance was good at approximately 84 percent.
Impact
56 percent of the individuals who finished the programme have successfully completed their Community Payback Orders. Supervision is ongoing for all but one of the remaining participants and there is no evidence to suggest anyone has re-offended since completing the Understanding Relationships Group Work Programme.
The individual who completed the first programme and supported the delivery of the second, as a peer mentor, will co-facilitate the next group and is about to undertake a peer mentoring qualification with Tayside Council on Alcohol.
As part of the evaluation the following was given as feedback from the participants:
“At each of the Understanding Relationships Group Work sessions I learned something new. The programme helped me better understand other people’s points of view, which I can now act on out in the community”
“Today’s session went really well as I’m an emotional guy at the moment and coming to the group is making me feel better about that I can change in the future”
“Becoming a peer mentor helped improved my confidence to support other people. I feel like a completely different person now.”
“Really good session, lots of useful tips for dealing with a breakup. This is a huge problem for me. Hopefully, I can remember these things and put (them) into use the next time I get into a relationship. Learning (that) if I am struggling, it’s OK to seek help and advice. Glad not the only one that has these problems and that everyone goes through it”
“Good participation from everyone. No awkwardness. No judgments. Respect from everyone and facilitators”
Future Development
Recommendations for future developments include:
- Potential scope for delivery as an early intervention group/individuals prior to a court order.
- Explore the potential benefits, if any, of mixed gender groups to gain a wider range of perspectives.
- Review the programme evaluation arrangements to better determine the full impact of the programme on the lives of the participants and their families.
- Consider the further development of the peer mentoring model for the delivery of the future programme.