Plymouth sociologist calls for national improvements on criminal rehabilitation
Julie Parsons spent the last seven years working with the Dartington-based employment and training charity, LandWorks
Last updated 25th Oct 2021
A sociologist from Plymouth says important lessons can be learnt to improve criminal rehabilitation in the country.
Julie Parsons - Associate Professor in Sociology, in the School of Society and Culture at the University of Plymouth - has spent the past seven years researching how people with criminal convictions have engaged with an employment and training charity.
She has worked with more than 50 people with criminal convictions who have attended the LandWorks charity in Dartington, Devon, on long-term placements.
Called 'trainees', people released on temporary licence from the local prison and others referred through the Probation Service have the chance to take part in training and work experience in the charity’s wood workshop and market garden.
They also take part in projects such as communal food preparation and eating, learning traditional crafts, making photographic blogs, and documenting their efforts to reintegrate into the community.
Through the course of 120 interviews, Julie has recorded their experiences and says there are powerful lessons to be learned from listening to those who’ve been through the criminal justice system:
"The Ministry of Justice estimates that the social and economic cost of re-offending is £18.1bn per year.
"As a society, if we are really serious about rehabilitation and resettlement of people back into the community, we have to do more to support them and really listen to their stories and get an insight into the lived-experience of what it is to be criminalised.
"The way that LandWorks keeps us in touch with people - often years after they have attended the placement - is unheard of with statutory agencies."
Julie Parsons - University of Plymouth
A video, produced by LandWorks and FotoNow CIC, has captured the voices of those involved in Julie's work. 'Quentin' is one of them - he talks about the extreme difficulties he has faced:
"The prison system is broken. When I got home, it didn’t feel like my home. I’d been away for two-and-a-half years; it had been redecorated; my wife had her routine, and everything felt strange.
"You start applying for jobs, and every application asks if you have any unspent convictions. The resentment that comes your way…all of this is after prison - so prison, as hard as it was, was the better part. Coming home, that was tough."
Quentin - Trainee at LandWorks
'Jarvis' was a career criminal, but thanks to his time on placement has been able to obtain a job in the NHS working on criminal justice and mental health:
"When you come from my background, you don’t know how to show your feelings because you have to guard yourself. You can’t let people in and that brings a lot of damage.
"I have been able to express myself here, whether it’s talking or working. I used to be an armed robber and now I’m making hedgehogs from pine cones! I’ve got self-worth now; I’d never been proud of myself before."
Jarvis - Trainee at LandWorks
LandWorks has officially operated since 2013, based on the Dartington Hall Estate.
Alongside the training and work experience, the charity provides practical support such as help with finding suitable accommodation, sorting finances and finding employment.
Steve Bradford, Charity Manager at LandWorks, adds:
"The research projects have been invaluable in giving the trainees a voice and in helping us to understand their perspectives and the impact of the charity.
"On a human level, we want people to be the best they can be, and if we are holding them back because of the stigma of criminal labels then they are not going to be contributing to society.
"We are convinced that comprehensive and sustained support like that provided at LandWorks can break the cycle of offending and reoffending – in everyone’s interest."
Steve Bradford - Charity Manager at LandWorks