Assessing for desistance
Content
Case summary
Inspectors comments
Take-away learning
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- identify and analyse offending-related factors
- identify the service user’s strengths and protective factors
- draw sufficiently on available sources of information.
Case summary
Amir is a 24-year-old male sentenced to a six-month community order consisting of a 10-day rehabilitation requirement and an exclusion requirement. The offence was imposed for a number of offences of shop theft, and the exclusion forbade Amir from entering the retail park where he committed the offences.
Shortly after sentence, Amir received 28 weeks in custody for an earlier offence of common assault against an emergency worker. There was very little time for any offence-focused work to be completed before the custodial sentence, but the responsible officer did complete the initial assessment, which took account of Amir’s lengthy record of acquisitive crime and long-standing heroin and crack cocaine habit.
Amir’s offending-related factors were identified and carefully analysed. The responsible officer gathered information from the substance misuse services, the youth offending team and children’s social care. Amir had been known to these agencies in the past and had witnessed significant domestic abuse within the family home as a child.
A lack of stable accommodation, substance misuse, thinking and behaviour problems and potential mental health issues were highlighted as requiring intervention to reduce the likelihood of Amir reoffending. The responsible officer also identified that previously when Amir had stable accommodation, he had demonstrated good coping skills and a higher level of motivation to address his offending behaviour. It was impressive that within this short time period the responsible officer was able to obtain supported accommodation, linked closely with the substance misuse services for Amir. This was a potential protective factor and enhanced his motivation. Identifying these key issues recognised Amir’s strengths and capacity for change and were crucial to his long-term rehabilitation.
Inspector’s comments
The assessment in relation to desistance was excellent in this case. Despite the relatively limited time between the start of the community order and imposition of the prison sentence, a full and thorough OASys was completed. Stable housing was identified as crucial to Amir’s future rehabilitation, and so the responsible officer started work immediately to find him somewhere suitable to live. In addition, they also arranged for the tenancy to remain open while Amir was serving the custodial sentence. Critically, the responsible officer took account of the range of factors that had contributed to the reasons why Amir had offended. This included gathering information from the substance misuse key worker, so that Amir could be supported on release to address his heroin and crack cocaine addiction and work towards abstinence.
Most impressive was the drawing of information from various sources to build a detailed picture of Amir’s criminogenic needs. In this case the responsible officer liaised with the youth offending team and children’s social care. The potential link between Amir’s childhood experience of trauma was analysed within the initial assessment and highlighted as requiring further exploration and intervention to address the underlying causes of his substance abuse.
Take-aways – applying the learning
- This case illustrates a good desistance-focused assessment. It identifies all the significant life events and recognises that the service user’s offending behaviour is linked to his negative emotional state and drug use. How do you address desistance at the assessment stage? Do you set in context why the service user committed the offence? Does your assessment practice capitalise on service users’ positive attitudes and motivation for the future?
- How can your practice in assessing for desistance draw on the widest possible range of information sources?
This case summary is intended for training/learning purposes and includes a fictional name.
