Cara Jardine

Valuing Desistence? A Social Return on Investment Case Study of a Throughcare Project for Short-Term Prisoners

A social return on investment (SROI) has been widely promoted by both third sector organisations and the Scottish Government reflecting greater demands for financial accountability among the voluntary/third sector and charities who are under increasing pressure to evidence their effectiveness. There has been little academic scrutiny of the use of the SROI by human service agencies in the field of criminal justice where the impact of desistence from crime is valued, but the quality of data in social agencies is often problematic. This paper draws from the evaluation of the Routes out of Prison Project (RooP), a peer support prison throughcare initiative, to provide a case study of how the SROI model might be applied positively to a criminal justice context and provide a consistent framework for valuing and comparing initiatives aimed at promoting desistence from crime. The paper provides an overview of both the RooP and the SROI, before examining the issues raised by RooP and the advantages and limitations of SROI in this context.

Relationships, environment, health and development : the information needs expressed online by young first-time mothers

This study investigates the information needs of young first time mothers through a qualitative content analysis of 266 selected posts to a major online discussion group. Our analysis reveals three main categories of need: needs around how to create a positive environment for a child, needs around a mothers relationships and well‐being and needs around child development and health. We demonstrate the similarities of this scheme to needs uncovered in other studies and how our classification of needs is more comprehensive than those in previous studies. A critical distinction in our results is between two types of need presentation, distinguishing between situational and informational needs. Situational needs are narrative descriptions of a problematic situations whereas informational needs are need statements with a clear request. Distinguishing between these two types of needs sheds new light on how information needs develop. We conclude with a discussion on the implication of our results for young mothers and information providers.

Isolated, overwhelmed and worried: young first-time mothers asking for information and support online

This study investigates the emotional content of 174 posts from 162 posters to online forums made by young (age 14–21) first‐time mothers to understand what emotions are expressed in these posts and how these emotions interact with the types of posts and the indicators of Information Poverty within the posts. Using textual analyses we provide a classification of emotions within posts across three main themes of interaction emotions, response emotions, and preoccupation emotions and show that many requests for information by young first‐time mothers are motivated by negative emotions. This has implications for how moderators of online news groups respond to online request for help and for understanding how to support vulnerable young parents.

Developing information literacy in dependent and disadvantaged circumstances: a transitional approach in the digital health context

The purpose of this paper is to advance our understanding of approaches to information literacy skills development in disadvantaged and dependent circumstances, and the role of information behaviour investigations in informing meaningful interventions in context. We report on work with young mothers (<25) from areas of multiple deprivation, seeking to better understand their information needs, and the factors influencing their selective and infrequent engagement with state and voluntary sector information services. We evidence limited progress in addressing digital divide issues, and report young mothers as having multiple and complex information needs, and a dependency upon human information intermediaries due to access and behavioural issues. We discuss design and trial of a tailored digital resource to encourage digital access and use, and in turn literacy development; and report that while found useful by young mothers, usage is likely to be low without human intermediary led intervention. A transitional approach is discussed.

Supporting families, promoting desistance? Exploring the impact of imprisonment on family relationships

Families affected by imprisonment are attracting growing research attention, inspired in no small part by the theorising of desistance scholars which suggests that families have a crucial role in reducing reoffending. Yet, these arguments have been critiqued by those who suggest that the prison has a damaging impact upon families, who therefore must be supported in their own right. This chapter will argue that adopting a more relational perspective, which recognises the central role of reciprocity in family life and desistance, can reveal new insights as to how both families and resettlement might be supported. However, given the high levels of social marginality experienced by many families, such approaches will always be limited. This calls into question models of desistance that suggest families can provide stocks of social capital, and gives cause to reflect on the true costs of imprisonment.