Understanding and Responding to Challenging Behaviour
Increasing Inclusion / Tackling the NEETs Problem / Hard to Reach Groups
Rehabilitating Military Veteran Offenders
Leadership and CPD Training
Reducing Re-offending and Social Exclusion > A Change of Ethos and Delivery - "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results” - Rita Mae Brown 'Sudden Death'
Pope Benedict XVI, addressing the 2007 Rome Congress, said: “Judicial and penal institutions must contribute to the rehabilitation of offenders, facilitating their transition from despair to hope. ... When conditions within jails and prisons are not conducive to the process of regaining a sense of worth and accepting its related duties, these institutions fail to achieve one of their essential ends.”
The following PRT film is provided in order to promote further discussion and debate as to the merits or otherwise of prison!
Enabling Change - LLUK Assessment of Skills Shortages
A Life Long Learning UK (LLUK) has previously highlighted the many skills shortages and challenges associated with modern day education and training provision. Throughout the report there is a strong thread drawing attention to the lack of basic leadership and management skills and the challenges of working with disadvantaged groups and those who display challenging behaviour. A copy of the report can be seen hear> . Page 10 covers the key topics.
The report speaks volumes about the current skills shortages and the priorities needed to address them. Without change, levels of staff stress are likely to increase with little optimism for hard to reach learners.
Interestingly, fear and a lack of personal belief are limiting thoughts which impact upon us all. Yet when we overcome such thoughts, most things are possible. Change the thinking and the feelings and you change the behaviour.
Even Michael Angelo struggled with his personal beliefs when asked to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. >
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Re-framing Your Thought Patterns
Working with hard to reach groups is demanding and stressful. Our staff training has been shown to improve performance, reduce that stress and increase overall staff morale.
With the economic crisis causing increasing concerns regarding young people, long-term unemployment and crime, more emphasis is being placed upon the need to engage and train marginalised and historically disenfranchised groups. Unfortunately, the majority of these individuals lack the essential personal motivation and sense of self-efficacy to undertake such training. As a consequence they tend to become particularly challenging, often displaying anti-social behaviour, anger and frustration. The management of such behaviour and groups is causing yet more strain upon parents, teachers, trainers, youth workers, social services, police, employment agencies and employers.
The reality is that patterns of long-term unemployment, anti-social and criminal behaviour can only be interrupted by tackling the underlying causes. That is, until ‘people' are treated as unique individuals and there is understanding that such behaviour is triggered by emotional, human and criminogenic needs not being met, little will change. Punishment and threats fail to meet these individual and fundamental needs. Rather, they serve to demoralise, de-motivate and depress, thus increasing and re-affirming self-doubt, fear and confusion, perpetuating the existing situation. Without change, social exclusion and re-offending rates are likely to increase with prisons destined to become even more overcrowded. Issues associated with drug misuse, mental health, social mobility, academic exclusion and the fear of young people will continue to drive ever-increasing wedges into the very fabric of our communities. Above all, many individuals will remain net debtors to society and we will continue to waste vast sums of money and human resources that should be utilised in other ways.
Promoting Respect and Personal Development
Dominic Grieve outlines his thoughts on the need to reduce re-offending.
Like Life Change UK, he stresses the need to address the underlying causes of crime and re-offending.
At Life Change UK, we believe that everyone has worth and a capacity to change. That said, there are those that need intensive support, guidance and encouragement if they are to realize the often painful process of moving on in their lives. The process promotes an holistic understanding that considers the whole person, reinforcing the links between Thinking / Feelings / Behaviour. It recognises that a whole is made up of interdependent parts - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual elements. What happens to one part has a direct impact upon the others. In parallel with this, the whole person (inclusive of all parts), is constantly having to interact with everything else in his or her surrounding environment. To achieve maximum well-being and an integrative place within society, everything must function at its best.
A lack of family support, poor education, inadequate nutrition, low self-esteem and self-belief often results in young people turning to the very things that keep them from realising their dreams and ambitions. Instead they become trapped in the cycle of drugs and crime, living on the streets, sofa surfing or in prison, often demonstrating a range of anti-social and challenging behaviour.
Attitudinal Change and Capacity Building
- Focusing upon the Core Personal Issues
The Life Change UK training focuses upon the 'tough' soft issues that address such behaviour and motivate individuals to positive change. Our approach provides the essential communication skills and depth of understanding to recognise and consider a person's lifestyle, their perceptions, beliefs and attitudes and why they react and behave as the do.
Importantly, it helps those responsible for promoting change to look at their own perceptions and responses to such behaviour, thus enabling them to approach the task in a more open and congruent way. Through this learning they are more able to guide and empower each individual towards achievable goals and outcomes, encouraging them to celebrate their life rather than lose it.
It is an ongoing process which includes personal commitment, accepting responsibility for their actions, choices and overall personal well-being. Temporary setbacks are viewed as just that, with an acknowledgment that mistakes can and will be made and challenges overcome.
Critically, we believe that those working with marginalised groups deserve the training and support to do so. Our courses address these issues.
The Revolving Doors Agency - http://www.revolving-doors.org.uk/home/, has conducted extensive research with young people as to why they re-offend. They conclude that: -
The self-reinforcing nature of the ‘revolving door cycle’ makes it difficult to break.
Approaching needs in isolation is unlikely to have sustained impact.
Solutions lie outside of the scope of Criminal Justice agencies
People with multiple problems need help from a range of services and working partnerships
Stimulating local strategic leadership and partners, encouraging joint ownership and development.
What Works: -
Intervene early
Navigate exit routes at all stages of the criminal justice system
Support holistic rehabilitation and recovery
Make use of existing community resources
Work in partnership
Involve users in designing and delivering services
Deliver services that believe in people and their capacity to change
An Oppositional Stance - “Many offenders are not ignorant to start with. Rather they choose ignorance because it shows how forceful they can reject being told what to do by someone who does not understand where (to use the parlance) they are coming from”. – Lynsey Hanley
More children are being locked up in England and Wales than any other country in western Europe.
There are 3,000 under-18s currently incarcerated, compared to Finland's four, and the trend has been steadily increasing over the last 15 years.
Until 1995, courts could only send a child into custody if they'd committed a serious crime such as rape, murder or GBH.
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