Group Interventions

Renehan, Nicole; Henry, Olivia

Abstract

Group interventions in probation in England and Wales have a relatively short but controversial history; from psychoanalysis and emotional support groups throughout the rehabilitative era, to prescriptive manuals utilising cognitive behavioural techniques advanced within the what works movement and drive towards risk-based managerialism. In contrast, a new desistance paradigm reorientated to what helps people to stop offending has found its way into rehabilitation discourse in practice and policy. However, cognitive behaviourism and correctionalism continue to dominate within group interventions. In this chapter, we explore how programmes based upon the fundamental principles of risk, need and responsivity could be augmented through increased incorporation of desistance-focussed approaches that enhance the quality of group interventions and people’s lives. We also argue that both approaches overlook the importance of addressing and working through the emotional vulnerabilities people bring to their offending and desistance journeys which present as significant barriers to change. Through our vision of A Responsive Desistance-Focussed Approach to Group Interventions, we contend that group work can and must address the emotional, identity, social and structural barriers people face in desisting. We highlight that rehabilitation is deeply personal, but it is also contingent upon supported journeys of change from the point of sentencing (judicial); the humanity and values of those who assist them in their journeys and beyond (moral); and a whole system of policy makers, communities and criminal justice working together (social) to support reintegration. We conclude that responsive evaluations must include all of these facets for group interventions to be viewed as legitimate by all rather than a cure all in themselves.

Citation

Renehan, N., & Henry, O. (2022). Group Interventions. In L. Burke, N. Carr, E. Cluley, S. Collett, & F. McNeill (Eds.), Reimagining Probation Practice: Re-forming Rehabilitation in an Age of Penal Excess (59-79). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003172031-4

• Online Publication Date: Oct 17, 2022
• Publication Date: Aug 31, 2022
• Deposit Date: Feb 7, 2024
• Publisher: Routledge
• Pages: 59-79
• Book Title: Reimagining Probation Practice: Re-forming Rehabilitation in an Age of Penal Excess
• Chapter Number: 4
• ISBN: 9781003172031
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003172031-4
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2228802