An Evaluation of Talent 4 . . . : A Programme to Identify Talent and Skills for Prisoners, Disadvantaged, Unemployed, and Vulnerable Groups

• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X17740556
• Published date: 01 August 2018
• Author: Rebecca McGuire-Snieckus,Laura Caulfield
• Date: 01 August 2018
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X17740556

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2018, Vol. 62(11) 3460 –3484

© The Author(s) 2017

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X17740556

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Article

An Evaluation of Talent

4 . . . : A Programme to

Identify Talent and Skills for

Prisoners, Disadvantaged,

Unemployed, and

Vulnerable Groups

Rebecca McGuire-Snieckus1 and Laura Caulfield1

Abstract

Previous research suggests that the relationship between employment and recidivism

is complex, with more support needed to facilitate employability motivation for

sustained change. An arts-based programme designed to facilitate vocational self-

determinism among prisoners with evidence of impact across three prisons in

the United Kingdom was replicated and delivered to 234 prisoners and long-term

unemployed participants from six European countries, to explore whether the

findings from the previous evaluation would be replicated on a much larger scale. The

research presented in this article found that supporting prisoners and the long-term

unemployed to articulate employability goals had a positive effect on personal growth

as well as understanding of individual strengths and weaknesses with respect to work,

employment, problem solving, and thinking styles. Future research might explore the

longer term impact on employment and recidivism.

Keywords

prisoners, employability, self-determinism, personal growth, skills, talent, unemployment

Introduction

Evidence suggests that offending and employment are inextricably linked with unem-

ployment more likely than not to precede offending, to follow a prison sentence, and

then to precede reoffending. Indeed, Niven and Olagundoye (2002) revealed that 67%

1Bath Spa University, UK

Corresponding Author:

Rebecca McGuire-Snieckus, Department of Psychology, Bath Spa University, Newton St. Loe Campus,

Bath BA29BN, UK.

Email: r.mcguire-snieckus@bathspa.ac.uk

740556IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X17740556International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyMcGuire-Snieckus and Cauleld

research-article2017

McGuire-Snieckus and Caulfield 3461

of prisoners were not in work or training in the 4 weeks before going to prison.

Employability of offenders has been identified as a major factor to improve rehabilita-

tion and resettlement to reduce recidivism (May, Sharma, & Stewart, 2008) with con-

siderable attention placed on the training and employment of prisoners (Clarke, Kelly,

& Hutton, 2005; Foster et al., 2013).

There is evidence to suggest that prison-based employability interventions affect

recidivism. In the United Kingdom, three surveys of prisoners shortly before prison

release in 2001, 2003, and 2004, representing 4,898 participants, revealed that a com-

bination of accommodation and employment problems were significantly associated

with an increased risk of reoffending (odds ratio [OR] = 1.43)—and that attending a

prison job club was significantly associated with a reduced likelihood of reoffending

(with 49% of those who attended reoffending compared with 58% of those who did

not attend reoffending; May et al., 2008). A systematic review of empirical evidence

of the impact of employability initiatives and reoffending by Hurry, Brazier, Parker,

and Wilson (2006) revealed that offenders who took part were significantly more

likely to be employed 6 months later than those who did not in six of the seven studies

reviewed. The authors suggested that “employment programmes need to give more

attention to facilitating an internal needs assessment, enabling offenders to make

career decisions that maximise success” (Hurry et al., 2006).

Some evidence suggests that the relationship between employment and recidivism

is a complex one; that gaining employment is not significantly associated with a

decrease in the likelihood of re-incarceration but, rather, in greater time to return to

prison (Tripodi, Kim, & Bender, 2010). As prisoners who gain employment are less

likely to engage in criminal behaviour for longer before returning to prison, the authors

suggest that for sustained change, interventions should focus on improving individual

motivations associated with employment (Tripodi et al., 2010).

Employment that fits an individual’s interests, strengths, and skills is related to

greater motivation (Noe, Noe, & Bachhuber, 1990). This fit, which relates to a feeling

of personal growth and competence, is thought to be a fundamental human motivation

and related to the extent to which individuals feel active, engaged, passive, or disaf-

fected (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Such “self-determination” is thought to have implications

for both self-regulation and well-being (Ryan & Deci, 2000). The theory of self-deter-

mination was used in a correctional facility educational program in an effort to pre-

serve motivation and actively engage in the learning process to ease the transition

from prison to community (McKinney & Cotronea, 2011). Aspiring to achieve in the

context of personal growth and perceived competence is associated with well-being,

and at the heart of this is a sense of motivation and engagement (Sheldon & Kasser,

1998). Indeed, practice emerging from the evidence base suggests that ex-offenders

should be provided with more information about how to match individual skills with

particular jobs and that feelings, subjective reaction, and attitudes about careers should

be explored with ex-offenders with a view to improving employment outcomes (Hurry

et al., 2006).

The programme “Talent 4 . . .” was developed by Rideout (Creative Arts for

Rehabilitation) to provide innovative, arts-based approaches to working with prisoners