Restarting a Prisoner’s Life onto a Supportive Path Leading to RESETtlement in the Community – The RESET Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An evaluation of the impact of a supportive post-prison release service for prisoners with mental health needs - The SPuRS Study
IRAS ID
184751
Contact name
Jacqueline Mansfield
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Canterbury Christ Church University
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 27 days
Research summary
Men after leaving prison are at a greater risk of breaking the law within the first year of release, and have an increased risk of suicide within the first month. Whilst previous research studies have mainly focused on supported release from prison schemes with the general prison population, there have only been a limited number of research interventions examining support for prisoners with mental health needs after release from prison. This study aims to look at an intervention to address the needs of this group during the immediate release period from prison into the community.
The main objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of this intervention on the participants’ housing situation. Other objectives include examining further criminal activity, admission to hospital, and contact with services. The social networks of the participants who receive the intervention will be explored. The participants’ views and experiences of the intervention will also be evaluated, which in turn will help to develop the intervention for future participants.
The proposed study is a two-year cohort study where 120 prisoners will be recruited from two prisons within South East London and Kent. Each prisoner will be allocated to one of two groups; 60 prisoners will be placed in the Supporting Prisoners upon Release Service (SPuRS) intervention group and 60 prisoners in the Standard Release Planning (comparison) group. The comparison prisoners will be those initially assessed as suitable for receiving the service but were “lost” to the service due to being transferred out of the prison. Centra Care and Support and Nacro, who provide a short-term support service to this group of prisoners, will provide the SPuRS intervention.
Data collection will take place at three time-points; baseline (within 2 weeks of release from prison), 3 months post release (when the support service usually finishes), and 9 months post release.
REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EE/0414
Date of REC Opinion
29 Dec 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion