With Britain’s prison population currently at breaking point, is enough being done to address rehabilitation and reduce the costs associated with persistent re-offending? One Cotswolds-based company has achieved impressive results in reducing ‘recidivism’ (or re-offending) in some American states, so should Britain be prepared to embrace its culture-changing approach?
A costly prison dilemma
With the average cost of keeping a prisoner locked up rising to £52,000 per annum and a prison population of increasing to 97,000 in 2024, it is clear that these upward trends need to be halted and, in time, reversed. Many have hailed the appointment of James Timpson, Chief Executive of the cobbler and key cutting empire that employs many ex-offenders, as Ministers for Prisons, Parole and Probation as a masterstroke by the new government. However, with re-offending rates fluctuating between 24% and 31% since 2010, providing prisoners with the means to become valued and contributory members of society when they are released remains a continuing headache.
On the face of it, the work of Dialogue Associates, headquartered in the quintessential Cotswolds village of Chipping Campden, seems straight forward enough. Their strategy is in the name – dialogue is key to their approach. A simple idea, but one they have honed over many decades and which has placed them in the vanguard of some ground-breaking work to reduce recidivism.
Changing the prison culture
For many years the company also ran the charitable organisation Prison Dialogue, working in prisons in both the UK and abroad. Recognising that a fundamental obstacle to ensuring that prisoners are receptive to the prospect of rehabilitation is the nature of their relationship with the prison system. The work of Prison Dialogue and Dialogue Associates has evolved to engage both the jailed and the jailers in the process of reducing habitual re-offending. Put simply, they aim to change preconceptions of ‘us and them’ and begin the process of changing the prevailing culture within a prison.
That they achieve this ambitious aim is no better illustrated than by looking at their work within the US correctional system. Despite an admirable and diverse worldwide client list, it is their work with the Department of Corrections in Nebraska, Washington State, Massachusetts, Virginia and Delaware of which they are rightly most proud. In Virginia, particularly, they worked through the entire correctional system and included everyone from the Director of Corrections, correctional officers, local law enforcement and probation staff to volunteers, church leaders and social services.
Establishing trust in prisons
Director and Co-founder Jane Ball, a former social worker with a Masters in Criminology, who has also worked with the homeless, co-founded the company in 2003.
“When I joined my business partner and Co-Director Peter Garrett to form Dialogue Associates, the mission was the same as it is now … to use a skilled dialogic approach in order to change unproductive and unhealthy cultures within organisations and establish a permanently transformed foundation from which they could build. We use techniques specifically designed to address conflict and shift the stance between two or more protagonists. By involving prison staff as well as the prisoners themselves, both sides immediately discover a willingness to positively change their behaviour and ultimately dismiss embedded preconditioning.”
Concluding, she asserts that:
“while never undermining the ultimate authority of the prison staff, we establish a positive relationship between them and the prisoners that forms the basis for starting the rehabilitative progress.”
Reducing recidivism (re-offending) in prisons
TV Judge Robert Rinder summed up the issues confronting those seeking to reduce recidivism in a recent interview.
“Criminals come out of jail ‘more dangerous’ than when they went in [and the British justice system should} seek to understand how someone has ended up committing an offence … [and] help them change their behaviour, rather than focusing on punishment.”
The UN has always promoted rehabilitation of prisoners as evidenced by this 2017 roadmap which concludes that:
“Next to the ensuring the secure and safe custody of prisoners, proactively supporting their successful rehabilitation and social reintegration is one of the core missions of prison administrations, yet which entails numerous challenges”.
These aspirations are what drives the work of Dialogue Associates. The positive results of their seven years of work with the Virginia Department of Corrections (VADOC) between 2011 and 2018 are still manifest. In 2023, it was reported that, for the seventh year in a row, recidivism rates in Virginia were the either the lowest or second lowest of all the American states, hovering around 20% and thus significantly lower than those in the UK.
Writing about his experiences after working with Dialogue Associates, former VADOC Director of Corrections, Harold Clarke, is fulsome in his praise of the Brits’ modus operandi. “Dialogue was the foundation that supported the cultural change,” he said. “Dialogue has been key in aligning goals, breaking down silos, integrating separate pieces, and creating common expectations,” he continued. “It became the means of bringing people together to talk, think, and learn. It introduced a common language and specific skills which allowed people to engage with one another with less misunderstanding and increased participation amongst all levels.”
Breaking barriers in prisons
Since their involvement with VADOC, Dialogue Associates have continued to support and develop the dialogic skills of many people in the state’s correctional system, ensuring that their legacy continues. In addition, it should be noted that, after 400 years, Virginia became the first so-called ‘southern state’ to abolish the death penalty – now that’s culture change!
With a proven track record of success in reducing re-offending, Dialogue Associates have developed an effective formula for breaking down age-old barriers between offenders and their guardians, particularly in the US. However, it was in UK prisons that the techniques were originally developed. Pioneering work like that which they undertook 20 years ago in the former HMP Dorchester, extended the practices both inside and outside the prison to include the local community and address the ‘revolving door’ of prisoners habitually re-offending and finding themselves re-incarcerated. By widening the focus beyond the prison gates – a process they named Threshold Dialogue – they were able to address the root causes of local recidivism. Sadly, while the work again showed positive results, it became another victim of austerity and America came calling.
With a new government in the UK, perhaps Dialogue Associates and their proven track record hold one of the keys to reducing a surging prison population that’s reaching crisis point and the unfailingly positive results of their work within the US correctional system deserve an airing in our creaking prison system?
Ed: West England Bylines does not support any particular organisation or political party. We do however give space to those who promote progressive and sustainable goals.
We want to hear your views. Please send any comments to editor@westenglandbylines.co.uk
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