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Appendix 1: Qualitative Case Studies
Mike, aged 20
Mike lived with his mother in Fife before receiving a 5 month prison sentence, of which he served two and a half months in Polmont Young Offenders Institution. He was released in March, 2004, four months prior to interview, and returned to live with his mother.
When in prison, Mike saw a Cranstoun worker four or five times during his two and a half months of imprisonment. He found the assessment process helpful and realistic, having identified his need to address his heroin dependency on release. He also seemed to appreciate the personal contact with someone within the prison:
"I thought it was alright, aye. It helped us a lot… Just like mentally and that, eh. Making me get my head together and that, eh. Making me think about things and that… I thought they were helpful, eh… well, when I was in the jail".
Whilst in prison, the Cranstoun worker referred him to Apex, the service provider for Transitional Care in Fife. He subsequently saw Apex on release regarding employment training, but received no help from them regarding his more immediate drug problem:
"They said they would contact me and get me like to go and see them, just help about drugs and that… They said they'd contact me, eh. [Interviewer: What would you have like them to have done when you got out?] Help with my drug problem, eh… just help with my drugs when I got out the jail and that."
When asked how he would describe Transitional Care to a friend, for example, he said
"they just help you, if you've got problems that you need, like housing, drugs, just like the main issues".
The best thing about them, for Mike, was
"[T]hat they're there, you know, if you need them".
When it was pointed out that they were not there when he needed them, he replied
"Aye, but I could have phoned them up if I wanted to, eh… [but] I didn't think it was necessary".
[This is a controversial point with some of this sample - the extent to which Transitional Care agencies should be proactive in pursuing potential clients on release from prison. Whilst some thought this was necessary given some ex-prisoners' vulnerability and lack of motivation on release, others suggested that there was a limit to what an agency could do without the full commitment of the individual concerned]. Mike added, however, that the worst thing about Transitional Care was
"[S]aying that they'd contact me and they never".
The only time Mike was contacted regarding Transitional Care on release was a week prior to interview, when he was approached by a member of the research team (although he thought this person was a member of Cranstoun staff) and asked questions regarding the evaluation.
Mike still has a drug problem, with no support from other agencies, but he said he was reducing his heroin intake through his own determination and with support from his mother and other family members. He has not committed any further offences since leaving prison and is currently looking for a job although suggests that his criminal record is an obstacle in this respect.
Scott, aged 34
Scott was released from Low Moss Prison in January 2004, 6 months prior to interview, following a three month sentence of which he served 6 weeks. He was living with his parents both before and after his prison sentence. During his assessment with Cranstoun - which was undertaken during one visit only - it was suggested that he did not need their help because he was already seeing an agency regarding his drug problem.
Scott has not had any major problems since returning to the community apart from his drug problem which has been alleviated by his reducing methadone prescription. He has not reoffended since release from prison, but he suggests this is because of being put on a methadone prescription by the agency he was seeing independently of Transitional Care :
"… it's cos I was offending to feed my drug habit and now I'm on the methadone programme, I don't need to offend."
Scott is currently unemployed but looking for work. His parents are very supportive of him. However, he thinks services such as Transitional Care should be more proactive with ex-prisoners, rather than leaving the initiative up to them:
"[They need] to get help from the services that are available when they get out and just no leave it up to themselves, you know… make sure that it's set up for them coming out… to be there… if they were in my area, I would have maybe mentioned - either when I was in I would have got an appointment for the future when I got out, you know. "
Colin, aged 26
Colin was released from a local prison in March, five months prior to interview. He had served 7 months of a 14 month sentence. He was living with his girlfriend prior to imprisonment and returned to her house on release. Although he was familiar with Transitional Care, and saw a member of staff regularly whilst in prison
"I seen them about once a week, sometimes twice a week",
he was unaware of their policy of restricting post-release contact to three months. During these visits in prison, Colin said that Transitional Care workers
"Just asked what I was going to do when I got out and if I wanted, they could help me get, set me up and all that for jobs and things like that."
The assessment identified his need for support in getting employment, buying clothes and addressing his drug and alcohol problems. He added that on release he expected a similar level of contact:
"Basically they said that they'd come and chat to me every now and again to see how I was getting on. But nobody's came. Nobody's came except that woman and she was [doing the research]."
However, he was given help initially by Transitional Care on release, in that they took him to a drug/employment project on the morning he got out of prison. They also referred him to a drugs worker whilst in the prison, but he was not sure where this worker came from:
"I'm trying to think. They work basically for Cranstoun but they weren't Cranstoun, but they worked alongside Cranstoun… I'm not too sure [what they were called]."
He suggested that whilst he could have met with Apex in the prison for employment purposes and with a drugs worker independently of Transitional Care, going through Cranstoun was quicker, since they were based in the prison.
Apart from meeting him on the day of his release, Colin has not seen a Transitional Care worker since:
"Just the day I got out, they done… just the day I got out, that was it. But since then, nothing really. [Interviewer: Did you want to see them again?] Aye, probably, aye… They said they would just meet up for a coffee and things like that… they were supposed to contact me."
Colin said that the employment and drugs agency that he was referred to was not able to help him much, but he had referred himself to another drug rehabilitation project before being imprisoned when he was put on a methadone programme. He was also in touch with Apex on release, who
"pushed things forward a wee bit… just to try and keep it on the straight and narrow and that",
but unable to help him find a job as such. Colin seemed quite confident, however, that his problems had reduced since release in March. His drug use had stabilised because of the methadone and he had not committed any offences since his imprisonment, which he described as 'very unusual!'. Most of his offending had, however, been to feed his drug habit prior to being given a methadone prescription.
When asked to describe Transitional Care, Colin said they were
"quite a good service"
which helps people with housing and drug problems and refers you to a drugs worker if you need one:
"If you need help about life and all that, they'll sit and talk to you about it and that, ken. They're quite good."
However, this was within the prison rather than on release. He had only one suggestion for changing the way Transitional Care operates:
"When people get out, try and keep, try and keep in touch with them instead of just waiting till they reoffend and going back in and then seeing them again… help on release basically."
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