Content

Case summary
Inspector’s comments
Take-away learning

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This case example illustrates where assessment showed a good understanding of promoting a child’s desistance. We expect to find that the assessment:

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Case summary

Tim is a 17-year-old male, sentenced to a referral order for an offence of robbery.

Tim lived with his mum, who had recently been diagnosed with cancer. He had no contact with his father. As an only child, he had found his mum’s diagnosis difficult to cope with, and as an escape had spent more time with his friends drinking alcohol in the local park. The offence, which was his first, had occurred while he was with his friends and under the influence of alcohol. One of his friends had dared him to take a mobile phone from another child who was walking through the park.

From the start, the case manager took time to get to know Tim, and she recognised that he felt angry about what had happened to his mum and was afraid for the future. The family were not known to any other agencies. Since the offence, Tim had stopped associating with the group of friends who were involved in the offence, as he recognised the negative influence, they had on him. Tim worked full-time as an apprentice car mechanic, and he had told his employer about the offence when he needed time off to attend court.

Throughout the assessment, the case manager took time to explain the criminal justice processes to Tim and what the impact would be on his future, especially in regard to disclosing his convictions. She made numerous home visits to speak to his mum and visited the garage where he worked. The case manager identified that Tim’s mum was a positive factor in his life who helped, encouraged and supported him, and that he had a strong relationship with her. She assessed that further work was needed so that they could come to terms and cope with what his mum was going through and the impact it was having on both of them.

The case manager also included Tim’s employer in the assessment and spent time speaking to both of them about the expectations of the order and the impact it would have on Tim and his employer’s time. Through these visits, the employer developed a greater understanding of Tim and what his circumstances were and offered additional support to help him to complete his order. This included taking him to appointments and allowing him time off to complete interventions.

The assessment considered the impact of alcohol on Tim’s offending and the case manager involved a specialist substance misuse worker to complete a screening tool, which formed part of the assessment. She concluded that, although alcohol had been a factor in the offence, Tim had now limited his intake and was not drinking outside on the streets anymore; therefore, this was no longer an issue.

The case record described Tim as having a positive outlook for his future and being motivated to learn from his supervision. When thinking about restorative justice, the case manager discussed with Tim what opportunities were available and they agreed that for his reparation hours he would work in a cancer charity shop near to his home. She knew that Tim would feel invested in this work due to his mother’s experience.

The case manager gave the inspector a progress update on the order. She described the continued engagement of Tim’s mother and employer, how she kept them updated with his progress and how they could further support Tim.

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Inspector comments:

This is a good example of a desistance-focused assessment. It identified that Tim’s mother’s cancer diagnosis had been a significant life event for Tim, which had led to him trying to escape the reality of it through drinking with his friends. The case manager gave a detailed explanation of Tim’s negative emotional state at the time of the offence and how the situation he was in had led to him committing the offence.

The case manager considered Tim’s relationships with his mum and his employer and identified these as strengths in the assessment. She also analysed the impact that alcohol and negative peer influences had on him and his decision-making abilities at the time of the offence. By involving his mum and his employer, the case manager could use information from them to enhance the assessment. She identified his strengths and recognised his level of maturity in his ability to reflect on his behaviour at the time and make changes. The assessment capitalised on Tim’s positive attitude and his motivation for an offending-free future.

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Take-aways – applying the learning

For further information on desistance, see HM Inspectorate of Probation’s Academic Insights publication by leading academics Shadd Maruna and Ruth Mann, Reconciling ‘Desistance’ and ‘What Works’.

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This case summary is intended for training/learning purposes and includes a fictional name.