Resettlement is the process of supporting offenders as they transition from being in prison or on probation to being back in society. This process is carried out with the intention to reduce reoffending and to promote long term reintegration, and this is done with the help of ensuring that they enter society with housing, employment and support networks. These are essential for ensuring that they live stable and crime free lives.

Throughout history, the concept of resettlement has changed significantly. In the 1970's and 1980's, the 'Nothing Works' approach was very common among the public. This was the belief that attempting to reform and rehabilitate offenders was ineffective. Eventually, this mindset changed due to new approaches being created, these included focusing on helping the offenders change through support and positive relationships. This is known as the 'New Rehabilitation' approach. Garland (2001) critiques that, although this new approach was introduced, the criminal justice system continued to prioritise risk management and control through monitoring. As a result, resettlement was developed as a more supportive and fair approach that provides offenders with genuine opportunities after their sentence.

Support services available

In order to achieve successful resettlement, having access to support services is essential. These services include having stable housing, employment opportunities, and mental health care. Providing ex-offenders with stable housing is a key factor in reducing recidivism, however this is a particularly difficult service to provide. Without a place to live, individuals are unable to access benefits, employment and receive consistent supervision. Therefore, providing stable housing is highly important for helping offenders settle back into society and avoid reoffending.

Parole officers play an important role in maintaining offenders' successful resettlement. They provide supervision, guidance and support to individuals throughout the reintegration process. They monitor compliance with release conditions to ensure offenders are following the law and to help maintain public safety. In addition, they support offenders by connecting them with the support services that they need, including treatment programmes, housing assistance, and employment resources. Case et al. (2021, Ch.29) explain that for effective resettlement, the support provided must be holistic and based on the desistance theory. This approach emphasises the importance of building relationships, having a shift in identity and moving away from crime. By focusing on this approach, we can have a better understanding of the offender's internal motivations for change. Parole officers and organisations, such as Nacro, are helpful for this process as they provide support in many ways to reintegrate offenders back into society.

Between 2014 and 2021, the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms significantly changed probation in England and Wales by outsourcing about 70% of services to new Community Rehabilitation companies. The Transforming Rehabilitation strategy divided the probation service into the publicly managed National Probation Service for high risk cases, and private Community Rehabilitation companies for low to medium risk cases. However, this plan was unsuccessful and created a system that had poor communication, inconsistency with service delivery and gaps in offender supervision.

The Community Rehabilitation company released many individuals without having clear resettlement plans or clear methods of support provided. This significantly reduced their chance of having successful reintegration. Annison (2018) criticises the changes as disasters, emphasising that they were influenced by political beliefs and rushed decision making, rather than prioritising using research and experienced professionals. Another critique of the Community Rehabilitation company is that it became unable to provide specific resettlement support. The focus of this company shifted from rehabilitation and successful reintegration to meeting targets and financial goals. This means that they no longer prioritised aftercare and resettlement.

What's changed since Re-nationalisation?

After the failure of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, in 2021 probation services changed back to being under public control with Her Majesty's Prison and Probation service being the overseer once again. This change led to improvements within the company such as staff morale, cooperation and using research driven approaches. Case et al. (2021) propose that the re-nationalisation has created the opportunity to make probation centred around the desistance theories' principles. This will allow trust to be rebuilt between service users and professionals, leading to resettlement having higher success rates.

The re-nationalisation has allowed rehabilitation to be more prioritised, this means that offenders' needs can be addressed properly and they can have better access to essential support services. With probation now being back under public control, parole officers can supervise offenders continuously, and build trust with each offender while providing consistent support to them. This is essential for progress to be made in the reintegration process and reduces risk of reoffending.

MAPPA and high risk offenders

Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) are intended for offenders who have been convicted of high risk offences such as sexual or violent crimes, sometimes even terrorism. MAPPA works alongside other agencies like the police, probation, social services and housing authorities to manage risks created by the offenders. This allows these agencies to implement measures to maintain public safety and ensure offenders are following their set conditions after being released. A few examples of measures that are taken are electronic tagging, curfews, exclusion zones and reporting back to probation officers regularly.

MAPPAs main intention is to maintain public safety, however it also strives to create a balance between ensuring safety and supporting rehabilitation. Garland (2001) writes that modern criminal justice has become increasingly focused on risk management and control, rather than providing resettlement support and opportunities for rehabilitation. A consequence of being under MAPPA supervision is that the individuals are given a social stigma which causes more difficulty in securing housing and employment. Additionally, MAPPA can also cause the offenders to feel more excluded socially due to the restrictive rules put in place. These factors make it much more difficult for offenders to rehabilitate, leading to a higher risk of reoffending as the individual's opportunity to resettle is limited.

Bibliography

Annison, H. (2018). Transforming Rehabilitation as 'policy disaster': Unbalanced policy-making and probation reform. Probation Journal, 66(1), pp.43–59.

Case, S., Johnson, P., Manlow, D., Smith, R. and Williams, K. (2021). The Oxford Textbook on Criminology. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.Chapter 29.

Garland, D. (2001). The culture of control : crime and social order in late modernity. Oxford: Clarendon.