Strengthening the capacity of criminal justice professionals and volunteers
Synopsis
The European Agenda on Education &Training 2010 suggests that it is necessary to facilitate peer training, especially with disadvantaged groups; additionally, the placement of offenders in peer-support roles is also increasingly recommended by different governments, as peers can be effective ‘identity models’ and the “living proofs” of the possibility of giving up the criminal life. Peer support is necessary because offenders view professional staff as authority figures and are more likely to listen to individuals that have ‘walked in their shoes’, and it is cost-effective. On the other hand, pro-social modeling – which is based on the notion of pro-social behaviour such as sharing, comforting, rescuing, and helping – is a style of supervision rather than a specific program that can reduce recidivism as much as 50%. Thus, the PPROMPT project seeks to explore and implement an approach that would build social capital and resilience within people that are under probational measures.
Objectives:
- To build up PeerPro-Social Model team, trained by the staff who are the working professionals in this field:
- To conduct a needs’ assessment of the offenders and group work leaders to sort out which topics need to be revised;
- To carry out research focused on the best practices of peer education and samples of PeerPro-Social Models in different countries;
- To teach a sample of offenders as “Pro-Social Models” where a newly structured life skills programme will be delivered by them;
- To train a group of offenders to work as peer trainers for the others;
- To deploy a programme in which peer trainers work voluntarily as a part of the community-work obligation under the supervision of training experts.
Expected outcomes
With this project:
- a Peer Pro-Social Model system will be structured for the Probation System;
- a needs analysis will be conducted to evaluate the efficiency of the present programmes in Turkey, Portugal, and Romania;
- a literature review on peer training and a meta-analysis on Pro-Social Model best practices will be conducted;
- a curriculum onPeer Training will be developed;
- a “PeerTrainer’s Manual” will be prepared;
- a “Pro-SocialModel Manual” will be prepared;
- a Trainer’s manual and toolkit will be produced for both training of probation experts and training of selected offenders;
- the efficiency of group work and seminar programmes will be increased;
- the capabilities of the staff working for the Probation System will be fostered;
- new methods on the rehabilitation and the reintegration of the offenders will be formed and tried within the system;
- the service quality in the Probation System of the partner countries will be increased;
- the service standards of the Turkish Probation System is expected to improve and rise to EU standards.
Promoter
Ankara Denetimli Serbestlik Müdürlügü, Turkey
(Ankara Probation Directorate, General Directorate of Prisons and DetentionHouses)
Partners
IPS_Innovative Prison Systems, Portugal
DGRSP Direcção Geral de Reinserção e Serviços Prisionais, Portugal
European Strategies Consulting, Romania
Funding
Erasmus+
KA2 – Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices
Strategic Partnerships for Adult Education
Timeframe
01/11/2017 –30/10/2019 (24 months)