A major criminal justice lecture will argue that understanding criminals' behaviour is crucial to breaking cycles of re-offending and starting them on a path towards change.
A Map, A Compass and A Pair of Good Boots: Probation Practice and the Desistance Journey is the subject of the 8th Annual Community Justice Portal Public Lecture at Sheffield Hallam University on Thursday 20 May 2010 at 2.30pm.
Fergus McNeill, Professor of Criminology and Social Work at the University of Glasgow, will outline how rehabilitation should play more of a role in helping former criminals to forge rewarding lives.
Fergus said: "If you want your criminal justice system to make communities safer probation services need to understand how people move away from crime and begin their desistance journey.
"Plenty has been written about how to tighten control mechanisms to reduce re-offending but there is now more of an emphasis on rehabilitation."
Prior to becoming an academic in 1998, Fergus worked for a number of years in residential drug rehabilitation and as a criminal justice social worker. His research interests and publications have addressed a range of criminal justice issues including sentencing, community sanctions, ex-offender reintegration and youth justice.
His lecture aims to examine ways in which probation practice might best stimulate, sponsor, support and sustain the desistance journey.
Professor Paul Senior, head of Hallam Centre for Community Justice at Sheffield Hallam, said: "This is a wonderful opportunity to discuss some of the key issues experienced by offenders and ex-offenders, and considering the resources that both offenders and practitioners need to make the desistance journey successfully."
Notes for editors:
The 8th Annual Community Justice Portal Public Lecture will be held at Sheffield Hallam University on Thursday 20 May 2010 at 2.30pm. To book a place and get more information go to: http://www.cjp.org.uk/lecture/
