Month: November 2011

Thanks for the postings Allan. I am one of those who typically sends his postcards after I return from my travels, not during them like you are supposed to. I just get too caught up in being in the moment itself, and, man, there were a lot of moments on this trip to the US. Allan has covered the highs and lows of the Discovering Desistance filming adventures brilliantly already, so I won’t repeat what he has shared. But, in addition to our intense time on Prison Row in Baltimore, our fascinating discussions in Malcolm X Park in DC, and our great interview with John Laub at the NIJ, I also had a series of other desistance-related meetings and talks in my 10 days in the States that I thought I’d blog about.

First and foremost, I also had the chance to go up to Albany to visit with my old friend and life mentor Hans Toch, originator of the idea that “everything works” in offender rehabilitation. Hans recently won the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award of the Division of Corrections and Sentencing at the American Society of Criminology. His typically humorous acceptance speech for the Award admitted that the state of US prisons at the moment is not much of a living testament to the impact of his research over the last five decades, but he dedicated the award to those criminal justice professionals who have fought against the grain and tried to make a difference in the real world. His words were touching and he was exactly right.

I also got the chance to meet with some of these types of individuals inside the system and making a real difference. For one, I had a discussion with Susan Tucker, Vincent Schiraldi and a fascinating group at NYC Probation where I learned about the highly exciting justice reinvestment work that they are doing as part of their NeON and Young Men’s Initiatives. I also had an intense and evocative conversation with a group of reentry experts, facilitated by Ann Jacobs of John Jay University’s Reentry Institute. Probably the most challenging exchanges I had were with Susan Herman, the author of the book Parallel Justice for Victims of Crime. We desistance researchers sometimes talk too glibly about bringing a “victim focus” into the desistance discussion (I know I do), so Herman’s work should be required reading – and I can strongly recommend a discussion in person with her if you get the chance as well.

My hosts in NYC were actually not from the Reentry Institute at all, though. I was at John Jay at the request of a group of scholars organized by the Center for Criminal Justice Ethics, who are interested in questions of “Character, Agency and Prisoner Reentry”. What makes this a most interesting group is that most are from the humanities – philosophy and English departments in particular. We social scientists could learn a great deal from their thinking on desistance issues as well.

Last, but not least, of course, I also had the chance to go to the American Society of Criminology meetings, this time in Washington DC. The ritual of an ASC meeting is its own acquired taste — a bit like Marmite. I crave it like an addiction, but others find themselves gagging at the thought of it. In a way, the ASC reflects America itself. It is far too big, too corporate, too blind to social justice issues and generally too in-love with itself. Yet, it is also much more diverse, professionally organized, and (I hate to say it) impressive both in scale and quality than the smaller, more human-scale criminology conferences I love so much in Europe. Going to an ASC is like trying to take a drink of water from a fire hydrant. It always takes me about a week to recover from it all (which is why I think they schedule it for right before Thanksgiving in the States).

So, yeah, it has been a busy couple weeks and if you are waiting to hear back from an email to me, I hope you will appreciate why I have maybe been out of touch and/or not contributing much to the blog.  

Cheers, Shadd

Hi Folks —  just arrived home an hour ago (4pm Monday) so I thought I’d do a quick blog before getting settled. 

Well, on the way back I couldn’t help but recall the journey over the last 5 weeks.  From a Cemetery in Kilwinning to the White House.  The schemes in Salcoats to the Houses of Parliament.  Barlinnie to Prison Row in the States.  From a sleepy village in Kent called Snodland to the notorious North Avenue in East Baltimore.  Yes, a journey indeed.  I managed to view the filming (the visuals) after each session and the guys have captured this wide geographical journey of enquiry in a stunning manner.  It won’t fail to impress. I have also conducted some 20 interviews over the last 5 weeks, again reflecting a diverse range of voices ranging from a homeless person here in Ayrshire to the Head of the National Institute for Justice in America.  

This, for me, was a fascinating experience and I’m confident that this will be edited to ensure that the viewer is able to share this experience.   Once the theme and nature of the narrative is agreed this will then pull the whole thing together and I think this is a really exciting prospect.  The unfortunate side perhaps is that it is impossible to include the range and depth of the dialogue in the film and I must also say at this point that every single interviewee (yes even Stephen Farrell) was remarkably patient, open and honest and it’s worth saying again here that the success of this part of the Project is definitely down to them (as well as Eamonn and Gerard of course, our film guys).

PS – We managed to get up early yesterday and capture some of the North Avenue neighbourhood which I felt was necessary for the States/Baltmore context.  Now going to bed as I have to get back to my real job tomorrow.

Allan

From Allan:

Today (Saturday) we met with Shadd, Faye and Ron (a former Probation Officer and Administrator – who now works in Prison with Correctional Officers to try and change the Prison culture).  Prison row was indeed an experience with what just seemed like prison after prison after prison within a few block radius.  Eammon and Gerard managed to capture the whole scene wonderfully which will give the viewers a real visual insight into the place.  I interviewed both Ron and Faye separately and they provided a historical and factual context of the penal system within Baltimore whilst highlighting some current initiatives and their initial impact on offenders and their families. Some interesting stuff and some good material from the Project point of view.

In the afternoon Eammon, Gerard and I went deep into the North Avenue neighbourhood (the location of the Wire) and you really had to see this place to believe it.  On a personal note I was left feeling a bit down and deflated as I seem to have been talking non stop the last four weeks or so about change and motivation and hope and today (albeit briefly and from within the car) I saw absolutely no cause or sign of any of these things. Indeed the young men we did see, I couldn’t help but think that they will either be dead or serving long term prison sentences within the next five years. The really lucky ones will just lose their lives to a raging, long-standing drug addiction.  That for me is the cold reality of the place.  Anyway, we decided not to do any walk-throughs in that particular area for obvious reasons although we agreed to return early tomorrow morning for another try.

Sorry to be a bit more despondent than normal here but I suppose I felt the latter part of the day to be a wee bit hard hitting.

This morning we met with Shadd, Faye, Terry and Greig.  Terry and Greig are men in their 50’s who started using Heroin around the age of 11 and 12 which, for both, was the beginning of a long journey into addictions, offending and imprisonment.  I interviewed them together and at times I had to remind myself that it was an interview format as I was getting caught up with their stories.  I felt I managed to capture it however.  Their stories were interesting and at times heartbreaking, yet a message of hope undoubtedly as they have now both been clean for a number of years and they both work to assist others still trapped in addictions within their old neighbourhoods.  Really interesting guys.

Although we never interviewed the guys in the Projects (being more of a built up commercial area) it still provided a stark contrast to the filming we did yesterday around Washington.  After the interview and following advice from Terry we decided that we would wait until we got to Baltimore to film the Projects which he thought would provide us with a more hard hitting and realistic view of this side of city life in the States.  Overall, I considered it to be another good day and although it’s the nature of the beast, I feel it’s such a pity losing some of this material [in the edit] as it’s conveyed in such a raw, open, honest and extremely interesting manner.  Well, I’m looking forward to seeing the grittier side of Baltimore tomorrow morning and I will upate you all on my return.

Allan Weaver – American correspondent reporting live from Baltimore City.

This just in from our US correspondent, Allan Weaver:

Hi folks – apart from the weather,  America has not disappointed.  Prior to leaving the UK,  I was going over some of John Laub’s work [For the uninitiated,JL is a major figure in US criminology and in desistance studies in particular; he was appointed by President Obama as Head of the National Institute for Justice; his participation in the film is in a personal capacity. (Ed.)] to try and familiarise myself with some of it as well as some of the comments about him and his current role and position.  Several people commented on him being really approachable and down to earth etc and I must say that this was my experience. Really nice, accommodating and obliging guy and it was good (perhaps better really) having an informal blether with him between filmed questions.  So yes the feeling was that this went well.  In the afternoon and then this morning, we focused on shots of the main monuments and the kind of walk throughs that I have become so accustomed to (I have now developed something of a gait where I seem to stop mid stride, face the sky and ponder on my life to date) – the White House, Lincoln’s Memorial, Supreme Court etc.  Should make really good footage and I think it’s safe to say that we have more than captured the States visually – although just for the record I must say that it was windy, raining and really cold.  We are meeting up with Shadd tomorrow and perhaps going to one of the Projects to interview an ex user/offender and then it’s a fast car all the way to Baltimore for the last filming session.

I will keep you all updated.

I’m on the train home from London after another jam-packed day yesterday… but, for present purposes, the best place to start is at the end.

I caught up with Allan and the crew for dinner last night in Chelsea. They had spent the day filming, first with Liz Dixon and Nick Paul of London Probation Trust, and then with Mark Johnson of User Voice. It was a long day for everyone involved, but a brilliant day for the project. These interviews (and today’s with folks from Unlock) are critical to the third part of the film — the part that concerns me most — which is where we aim to open up debates about what we need to do differently in probation (and criminal justice more generally) if we are to better support desistance. Having seen my first sight of the footage last night — not just from yesterday’s filming but from the earlier shoots — I am more convinced than ever about the importance and value of this project. Both the raw content and the visual impact of the footage is stunning; in fact, I’d go so far as to say it is beautiful in several senses of the word (not a word often associated with Mr Weaver, but there you go…). Allan and the crew are doing a brilliant job.

Of course, we’re still facing a huge editing dilemma, but might be edging towards a solution; to work as a 50 minute film, the film needs to have a clear narrative and its characters need sufficient presence — which means time on screen. It’s going to be classic struggle over clarity versus subtlety. We’re bound to lose some of the latter, but the 14 or 15 hours of footage that we have filmed so far are so rich that we need to find other ways to use them. The emerging solution may be a set of DVD extras where people can dip into longer versions of particular interviews on particular issues. That way, we get not just the film but a set of really rich learning resources.

So much for the sublime, what about the ridiculous? Well, as the team were away filming I managed three presentations in 5 hours — one to people in NOMS involved in commissioning, one to CLINKS, and one to London Probation Trust. The first two tried to think through some of the possible implications of desistance research for commissioning. These were interesting discussions, and too complex for (half) a hasty blog post, but one message came out clearly, for me at least: If we take a desistance-based perspective seriously it means we have to recognise that neither NOMS nor any provider of services can command, control or compel reductions in reoffending, for the simple reasons that (a) desistance belongs to the people involved and (b) integration of ex-offenders belongs to communities (though the state, civil society and public services have duties here too). In other words, neither the commissioners not the deliverers of services in fact ‘own’ desistance and social integration; these things are not the outcomes of their work — they are human and social processes that depend on people and communities finding ways to resolve their conflicts, tackle their issues, realise their potential, accept and support their fellow citizens.

High quality services can play a big part in helping people and communities achieve these things, but they don’t make them happen in any straightforward way, and its ridiculous to imagine that they do. I suggested there are two main implications for commissioning: (1) commissioners should focus as much on commissioning quality as on outcomes (since quality is deliverable and can and should be promised) (2) users need to be much more involved in helping to define quality and in shaping commissioning decisions (since it is their change process that quality services exist to support).

If anyone is interested, I’ll try posting the powerpoint presentation on this stuff later.

hi,

Back in the office after a day’s filming in the Manchester area (3/11); we started by grabbing a taxi and asking the driver to take us somewhere “with a bit of gritty realism” – he drove us straight towards Beswick (as I’d expected he might). There we filmed Allan taking to Raymond Lunn (who, as someone born and bred in Leeds, was pretending he didn’t mind hauling himself across the Peninnes to Manchester) and got several good sequences along a canal bank. The crew had to be talked out of murdering one of the local ducks who went “quack quack quack” throughout much of the filming, before we headed off for lunch at a local chippie (no duck on the menu, only fish).

After lunch, and without Raymond who had had to go (there is only so long someone from Leeds is allowed/can bear to spend in Manchester on any one day, of course), Allan and I chatted on a nearby by park bench whilst a) the crew filmed us and b) various drug deals took place behind us. After a break to dry out (ahem – the weather in Manchester lived up to typecast, if not forecast), we headed to Stockport to meet two guys who now work in drugs counselling, but who had both experienced several years of offending and drug use. This was, for me at least, one of the most rewarding experiences of the day, as Allan chatted away to Daran and Charlie about the experiences they had all endured and the possible ways for us to improve the working of the CJS. Even if not all of it makes into the final edit, there was a 20-25min segment which flowed seemless, with no interruptions, so we’ll see if there is a way we can make that section available as a whole – it really was enlightening. Filming over, I headed home and left Allan and the crew to “track down that duck” and head off to China Town for an evening meal … (duck firmly on the menu I suspected).

Filming next week is in London with Fergus along side the crew, so watch this space for updates …

 

Steve