A number of intervention programmes, known as ‘accredited programmes’, addressing particular types or root causes of offending behaviour are run by staff in the Lincolnshire Probation Trust. These include compulsory courses for sex offenders, drink drivers, and perpetrators of domestic violence, which are aimed at changing offenders’ thinking and behaviour.If your miss a session, you have to do a catch-up session. If you continue to miss sessions without a good reason you may be in breach of your community order and could be sent back to court. Some programmes have limits on the number of catch-up sessions, insisting an offender starts the programme again.
Accredited programmes available at CPPT are:
Thinking Skills
TSP is a group programme which helps offenders, male or female, to think things over rationally, instead of acting rashly and getting into trouble. TSP is a group of 19 sessions , the first is an introduction then the work is split into 3 modules, Self Control, Problem Solving and Positive Relationships with 6 sessions in each.
TSP is based on the idea that behaviour and thinking are linked. This group can help you to learn new ways of thinking about the choices you face in your everyday life and will help you stop offending.
The new skills we offer are:
- Not being so impulsive,
- Thinking in a creative way
- Thinking logically
- Finding alternative ways forward
- Considering how your behaviour affects other people
- Learning to listen to others
- Learning how to convince others
- Learning how to negotiate
- Making better decisions
RESOLVE
RESOLVE is a moderate intensity cognitive-behavioural intervention that aims to reduce violence in medium to high risk adult male offenders aged 18 and over. It is considered to be suitable for offenders with a history of proactive, reactive or instrumental violence. Offenders need to meet each of the following criteria which are guided by the risk/need/responsivity principal of rehabilitation:
- Violent index offence
- Are identified as at least medium risk of reoffending and violence
- Have needs addressed by the programme
- Are able to engage in and benefit from the intervention
The programme is made up of 21 group work sessions clustered into ‘themes’:
- Foundations (three sessions one of which is an individual session)
- Understanding my aggression
- Thinking and identity
- Emotions and dealing with conflict
- Lifestyle
- Relapse prevention
- Four individual sessions (these take place at the beginning and at relevant points within the programme)
Building Better Relationships (BBR)
This is the new program which replaced the Integrated Domestic Abuse Programme (IDAP). The aims is still the same and the program is aimed at those male offenders convicted of serious domestic violence, in particular those with an entrenched pattern of violence and aggression. It aims to reduce re-offending and promote the safety of current and future partners and children. It helps men achieve a better understanding of why they use violence and aggression in their intimate relationships, the attitudes and beliefs that underpin their behaviour and what factors reinforce and maintain their use of that behaviour.
The 29 session programme, which is primarily delivered in groups, encourages men to change their behaviour and develop strategies for maintaining the change when they complete the course. Partners of offenders on the programme are supported by dedicated Women’s Safety Officers. These staff liaise with course organisers and colleagues in other agencies such as police and social care to ensure families are protected from further abuse. Building Better Relationships incorporates the findings of new research into violence and aggression and streamlines work delivered in both prisons and the community.
There is an alternative program for those offenders whose violent behaviour is not so entrenched, called Stop the Hurt Programme. This is a programme run in partnership with Peterborough Relationship Support and is aimed at male domestic violence offenders who are assessed as low or medium risk. This is an alternative to Building Better Relationships (BBR) and is suitable for offenders whose pattern of abuse is not so entrenched, but is sufficiently serious to be a cause for concern. This programme is run over 16 weeks and consists of 16 two and a half hour sessions. Offenders would normally attend this course as a requirement of their supervision.
Internet Sex Offender Treatment Programme (i-SOTP)
This programme is suitable for any male offender convicted of non-contact internet sexual offences only (e.g. possession, downloading, making and/or distribution of indecent images of children), except when the offender is assessed as Very High Risk. The programme is normally delivered in a groupwork format with 35 two-hour sessions delivered once or twice a week (70 treatment hours). There may be some very limited capacity to deliver the programme in a one-to-one format but this would always need to be discussed with the Treatment Manager. There are six modules, each with a varying number of sessions titled:
- Motivation and Values
- What needs did offending meet
- Victim Awareness
- Emotional and Relationship Skills
- Community, Collecting and Compulsivity
- Relapse Prevention and New Life Plan
Sex Offender Groupwork Programme (SOGP)
This programme is suitable for any male offender convicted of a contact or non-contact sexual offence except those internet offences addressed by the i-SOTP. It is made up of four blocks (see below for more details of which block). Medium or higher risk offenders complete all blocks of the programme. Low risk offenders normally complete the Foundation, Victim Empathy and Better Lives Relapse Prevention components. Offenders who have completed a programme in prison may be required to complete the Better Lives Relapse Prevention block or repeat other blocks as necessary.