Helping socially isolated prisoners

Community Reintegration

May 2021

Full Citation

Corden, J., & Clifton, M. (1985). Helping socially isolated prisoners. The British Journal of Social Work, 15(4), 331-350.

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a piece of evaluative research. The study was undertaken to evaluate the impact of a small project set up by the West Yorkshire Probation and Aftercare Service, in response to evidence from previous research that the needs of socially isolated men on release from prison were not being met by the Probation Service. The findings show that the Socially Isolated Prisoners Project was effective in improving substantially the rate of take-up of voluntary after-care by socially isolated men; but it also shows that the project encountered many difficulties in bringing about significant improvements in the men's post-release circumstances. The paper also reports that the likelihood of rapid reconviction was not affected by the efforts of the project workers.