The Howard journal of crime and justice, Oct 16, 2020
The article examines the operation and impact of a specialist wing in a male prison, which aims t... more The article examines the operation and impact of a specialist wing in a male prison, which aims to repair and enhance family relationships. It outlines the damaging effects of parental imprisonment on children and on paternal identity, and explores whether, and how, residence on the wing and prisoners’ joint participation with children and families in extended visits and family‐focused activities and interventions, mitigate such damage. The findings are overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating improvements in well‐being among children and family members, enhanced family relationships, and a stronger sense of paternal identity among prisoners. It is argued that these activities set in motion processes akin to those postulated by Burke (1991) as necessary for maintenance and renewal of identity: namely, the ‘verification’ of ‘identity standards’ through ‘reflective appraisal’ by key referent groups (here, families and children). There is also evidence that positive changes in prisoners quite frequently persist after release.
Background Many male prison leavers have significant mental health problems. Prison leavers often... more Background Many male prison leavers have significant mental health problems. Prison leavers often have a history of trauma, ongoing substance misuse and housing insecurity. Only a minority of prison leavers receive mental health care on release from prison. Objectives The aim of the Engager research programme was to develop and evaluate a theory- and evidence-informed complex intervention designed to support individuals with common mental health problems (e.g. anxiety, depression) and other complex needs, including mental health comorbidity, before and after release from prison. Methods In phase 1, the intervention was developed through a set of realist-informed substudies, including a realist review of psychosocial care for individuals with complex needs, case studies within services demonstrating promising intervention features, focus groups with individuals from under-represented groups, a rapid realist review of the intervention implementation literature and a formative process ...
Background ‘Engager’ is an innovative ‘through-the-gate’ complex care intervention for male priso... more Background ‘Engager’ is an innovative ‘through-the-gate’ complex care intervention for male prison-leavers with common mental health problems. In parallel to the randomised-controlled trial of Engager (Trial registration number: ISRCTN11707331), a set of process evaluation analyses were undertaken. This paper reports on the depth multiple case study analysis part of the process evaluation, exploring how a sub-sample of prison-leavers engaged and responded to the intervention offer of one-to-one support during their re-integration into the community. Methods To understand intervention delivery and what response it elicited in individuals, we used a realist-informed qualitative multiple ‘case’ studies approach. We scrutinised how intervention component delivery lead to outcomes by examining underlying causal pathways or ‘mechanisms’ that promoted or hindered progress towards personal outcomes. ‘Cases’ (n = 24) were prison-leavers from the intervention arm of the trial. We collected pr...
Background People in prison experience a range of physical and mental health problems. Evaluating... more Background People in prison experience a range of physical and mental health problems. Evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of prison-based interventions presents a number of methodological challenges. We present a case study of an economic evaluation of a prison-based intervention (“Engager”) to address common mental health problems. Methods Two hundred and eighty people were recruited from prisons in England and randomised to Engager plus usual care or usual care. Participants were followed up for 12 months following release from prison. The primary analysis is the cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained of Engager compared to usual care from a National Health Service (NHS) perspective with QALYs calculated using the CORE 6 Dimension. A cost-consequences analysis evaluated cross-sectoral costs and a range of outcomes. Results From an NHS perspective, Engager cost an additional £2737 per participant (95% of iterations between £1029 and £4718) with a mean QALY diffe...
There is no established way of converting the 24-month reconviction rates predicted by 'Offender ... more There is no established way of converting the 24-month reconviction rates predicted by 'Offender Group Reconviction Scale' (OGRS2) scores into 12-month reconviction predictions, which do not stand in a simple relationship to each other. However, Copas et al (1994) provide a table of observed 12-month reconviction rates for prediction scores from the first version of OGRS, from which we have created a 'conversion table' for OGRS2 scores. A similar exercise was undertaken in the Straight Thinking on Probation (STOP) programme evaluation by Raynor and Vanstone (1996).
The Howard journal of crime and justice, Oct 16, 2020
The article examines the operation and impact of a specialist wing in a male prison, which aims t... more The article examines the operation and impact of a specialist wing in a male prison, which aims to repair and enhance family relationships. It outlines the damaging effects of parental imprisonment on children and on paternal identity, and explores whether, and how, residence on the wing and prisoners’ joint participation with children and families in extended visits and family‐focused activities and interventions, mitigate such damage. The findings are overwhelmingly positive, demonstrating improvements in well‐being among children and family members, enhanced family relationships, and a stronger sense of paternal identity among prisoners. It is argued that these activities set in motion processes akin to those postulated by Burke (1991) as necessary for maintenance and renewal of identity: namely, the ‘verification’ of ‘identity standards’ through ‘reflective appraisal’ by key referent groups (here, families and children). There is also evidence that positive changes in prisoners quite frequently persist after release.
Background Many male prison leavers have significant mental health problems. Prison leavers often... more Background Many male prison leavers have significant mental health problems. Prison leavers often have a history of trauma, ongoing substance misuse and housing insecurity. Only a minority of prison leavers receive mental health care on release from prison. Objectives The aim of the Engager research programme was to develop and evaluate a theory- and evidence-informed complex intervention designed to support individuals with common mental health problems (e.g. anxiety, depression) and other complex needs, including mental health comorbidity, before and after release from prison. Methods In phase 1, the intervention was developed through a set of realist-informed substudies, including a realist review of psychosocial care for individuals with complex needs, case studies within services demonstrating promising intervention features, focus groups with individuals from under-represented groups, a rapid realist review of the intervention implementation literature and a formative process ...
Background ‘Engager’ is an innovative ‘through-the-gate’ complex care intervention for male priso... more Background ‘Engager’ is an innovative ‘through-the-gate’ complex care intervention for male prison-leavers with common mental health problems. In parallel to the randomised-controlled trial of Engager (Trial registration number: ISRCTN11707331), a set of process evaluation analyses were undertaken. This paper reports on the depth multiple case study analysis part of the process evaluation, exploring how a sub-sample of prison-leavers engaged and responded to the intervention offer of one-to-one support during their re-integration into the community. Methods To understand intervention delivery and what response it elicited in individuals, we used a realist-informed qualitative multiple ‘case’ studies approach. We scrutinised how intervention component delivery lead to outcomes by examining underlying causal pathways or ‘mechanisms’ that promoted or hindered progress towards personal outcomes. ‘Cases’ (n = 24) were prison-leavers from the intervention arm of the trial. We collected pr...
Background People in prison experience a range of physical and mental health problems. Evaluating... more Background People in prison experience a range of physical and mental health problems. Evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of prison-based interventions presents a number of methodological challenges. We present a case study of an economic evaluation of a prison-based intervention (“Engager”) to address common mental health problems. Methods Two hundred and eighty people were recruited from prisons in England and randomised to Engager plus usual care or usual care. Participants were followed up for 12 months following release from prison. The primary analysis is the cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained of Engager compared to usual care from a National Health Service (NHS) perspective with QALYs calculated using the CORE 6 Dimension. A cost-consequences analysis evaluated cross-sectoral costs and a range of outcomes. Results From an NHS perspective, Engager cost an additional £2737 per participant (95% of iterations between £1029 and £4718) with a mean QALY diffe...
There is no established way of converting the 24-month reconviction rates predicted by 'Offender ... more There is no established way of converting the 24-month reconviction rates predicted by 'Offender Group Reconviction Scale' (OGRS2) scores into 12-month reconviction predictions, which do not stand in a simple relationship to each other. However, Copas et al (1994) provide a table of observed 12-month reconviction rates for prediction scores from the first version of OGRS, from which we have created a 'conversion table' for OGRS2 scores. A similar exercise was undertaken in the Straight Thinking on Probation (STOP) programme evaluation by Raynor and Vanstone (1996).
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Papers by Mike Maguire