Evaluations
An evaluation of The Irene Taylor Trust’s Sounding Out programme 2016-2018
Sounding Out is a music traineeship which provides former prisoners with longer-term opportunities upon their release, to bridge the gap between inside and outside prison. The evaluation takes a qualitative approach to explore the views and experiences of participants, staff and family members to understand if and how Sounding Out ... read on →
Evaluation of the use of 'Good Vibrations' percussion courses to improve motivation to change and treatment readiness with convicted sexual offenders embarking on treatment programmes
Previous research has highlighted the benefits of implementing music-centred interventions in correctional settings. The present study used a mixed method approach to explore prisoners’ experiences of a week-long Indonesian percussion music course, introduced in a UK sex offender prison to enhance motivation and readiness for change pre-treatment. Study one examined ... read on →
The Arts of Desistance: Evaluation of the Koestler Trust Arts Mentoring Programme for Former Prisoners
This report presents and discusses the findings of an evaluation of an arts-based mentoring scheme that is aimed at prolonging and enhancing desistance from crime through providing former prisoners with opportunities to continue engaging with the arts after release. The evaluation focused both on the implementation and effectiveness of the ... read on →
Write to be Heard: Supporting Offender Learning through Creative Writing
The report explores the impact of a creative writing programme developed to engage ‘hard to reach’ learners in prison. The mechanism was a creative writing competition, incorporating a schedule of workshops in 28 prisons, encouraging entrants to write pieces for broadcast on National Prison Radio (NPR). Using qualitative and quantitative ... read on →
Sounding Out - Jim Cartwright
The report followed Music in Prisons as they ran a pilot ‘through the gate’ project which, through music, aimed to provide longer-term rehabilitative opportunities to previous project participants in order to help bridge the gap between life inside and out prison. The key aims were to assist reintegration; impact on ... read on →
The Melting Pot: Evaluation
A three-year creative writing and mentoring project working at the DSPD Unit, HMP Frankland. The report shows how the project contributed to the overall well-being of men in the Unit and contributed to the rehabilitation programme. Section 2 includes a Replicability Model and the development of performance indicators and an ... read on →
Re-imagining futures: Exploring arts interventions and the process of desistance
Carried out by Northumbria University and Bath Spa University, this report highlights examples of how the arts can support positive changes linked to personal agency, efficacy and identity, which are linked to the highly individualised journey of desistance from criminal behaviour. Key findings show that participation in arts activities enables ... read on →
Family Man: 2012-13 Evaluation Scope
The purpose of this evaluation is to demonstrate the long-term impact and cost-effectiveness of Family Man to policy makers, funders, prisons and practitioners; and to complement Gwyneth Boswell’s qualitative study of the revised Family Man and other previous evaluations. read on →
The Great Escape: exploring the rehabilitative dynamics involved in 'Changing Tunes'
The goal of this report is to develop a 'logic model' that can account for how Changing Tunes (CT) works as a rehabilitative strategy, outlining both the dynamic processes involved and their immediate/short-term and medium/longer-term impacts on the lives of participants. This analysis identified seven, key elements of the CT ... read on →
Developments in the HM Prison Service and Safe Ground Family Man programme, and the Safe Ground Network during 2007-8: An independent review
The purpose of this evaulation was to examine the developments Safe Ground had made to one of its prison interventions, Family Man, and to the Safe Ground network during the period 2007-08 following recommendations made in previous reviews. It utilised semi structured qualitative face to face interviews, telephone interviews and questionnaires ... read on →
