The Secret Sauce of Desistance: A Reflection on the Past and Where We Are Today.
By Justin Coleman, COO at Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice.
For years, the Alliance of Sport in Criminal Justice (AoS) has championed the power of sport and physical activity in transforming lives and reducing reoffending. Before AoS, there was 2nd Chance Project, where we started to build the evidence.
We know what works, but what’s the magic ingredient? What makes some programmes so successful while others fall short? This blog argues that the key lies in a whole person approach, encompassing multi-agency partnerships, distributed leadership, and a consistent focus on the individual’s needs across multiple ‘pathways’ to desistance.
The beginnings
Back in 2009-2011, the world’s first research project focused on sport in prison took place at HMP/YOI Portland. The results, highlighted in the 2018 Sport Chance Review (Page 6[1]), were remarkable: a mere 6% reoffending rate among participants. This success wasn’t accidental. It wasn’t just about sport; it was about a holistic, united and interdependent effort.
The Portland Project evidence (otherwise known as Football and Rugby Behind Bars) wasn’t built on a pre-existing blueprint. It was new, though physical activity and sport is mentioned within the Criminal Justice System dating back before the 1920’s, with examples seen within the National Justice Museum blogs[2]. It was a journey of forging partnership working, learning, adapting, and relentless connection across multiple systems, organisations and departments throughout England and Wales.
Creating the Secret Sauce
The “secret sauce” was this multi-agency and multi-disciplinary team, working seamlessly together to address the complex needs of each individual. This included multiple departmental teams from HMP/YOI, alongside community/third sector organisations like the 2nd Chance Project CIC, the Rugby Football Union (RFU), and the Chelsea Foundation. It also spilled into release area referrals being effectively upheld. We all held a specialism and in short, formed a Venn diagram of overlapping, yet united purpose and supportive circles around and with the individual.
My role within this dynamic mix wasn’t to deliver Sport/Physical Activity. Whilst I joined in to build relationships, my clear role in all of this involved conducting in-depth 7 Pathways Assessments and follow up interviews with participants throughout their 12-week programme. I provided ongoing support, and connected participants with resources, organisations and support systems for successful transitions.
A New Approach
This systemic approach, combined with the passion and dedication of the specialists involved, created a truly transformative environment. Yes, physical activity and sport was the hook; it helped connect us and increased health, wellbeing and aspirations. It was the ‘freedom’ within the structure, but it wasn’t the solution to finding a suitable accommodation for release. It wasn’t often the destination for employment opportunities, nor was it the thing that repaired families or enabled restorative justice. But, the relationships built within this active environment modelled the real world relationships and desire needed to bridge systems, specialisms and drive aspirational desistance journeys.
The Seven Pathways
The research (Meek_2nd_Chance_Portland_Evaluation_Final_Report.pdf[3]) reveals the importance of addressing the seven pathways to reducing reoffending:
These pathways, originally outlined in the 2004 National Reducing Re-offending Action Plan[4] and further emphasised in The Corston Report (2007)[5], recognise that desistance is a multifaceted process. Whilst not often highlighted as a framework now, in Guernsey Prison Criminal Justice System it is identified and utilised: The 7 Strategic Pathways key to reducing reoffending – States of Guernsey
A Powerful Solar System
No single organisation can effectively address all these areas in a one size fits all approach. The Portland Project demonstrated that when multiple agencies and specialists work together, focusing on the individual’s needs across all seven pathways, a powerful solar system[6] of support is created. At the centre of this solar system, the Sun represents the individual, with their unique desistance path ahead. The individual is responsible for their own journey, while surrounded by a network of professionals committed to their success and communicating effectively to orbit the individual by offering timely and coordinated support.
This model embodies distributed leadership, connectedness, and a truly person-centred approach. It’s about more than just reducing reoffending; it’s about empowering individuals to build a better future, lift their autonomy to aim for and achieve an outcome, that is giving back to society. This can be seen in other System Change work, such as Place Partnerships[7], via Sport England’s approach to Uniting the Movement.
The evidence is clear and building rapidly, that these approaches have been tested and are evolving into more than sport. They are expanding into systemic and multi-system solutions, where specialist perspectives such as; health, education, local authority, third and community sector, sports partnerships, police, and secure estates, are uniting and working together to form a commUNITY.
A Call to Action
The clarity of this evidence is bright. It also tells us it is a complex challenge we seek to address. Whilst these systems may have a single and common purpose, it will take whole person approaches, combined with multi-agency/sector partnership working, to build and generate better systems for the future.
This blog is a call to action. We urge criminal justice staff and third-sector organisations to embrace this way of working, reduce a silo mentality and collectively take on a whole person approach, with partnership working bridging systems and specialisms.
We must move beyond siloed working and unite around the individual, recognising that only together can we effectively address the complex web of factors that contribute to reoffending. This is not just about one organisation’s success: it’s about a collective win for individuals, families, the criminal justice system and our shared communities.
As we navigate current governmental changes, now is the time to focus on what works. Let’s do more of it.
[1] Independent Review of Sport in Justice – https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5b6d5ddeed915d311c8f5e32/a-sporting-chance-an-independent-review-sport-in-justice.pdf
[2] https://www.nationaljusticemuseum.org.uk/museum/news/borstal-blogs-part-4-health
[3] https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/210815/1/Meek_2nd_Chance_Portland_Evaluation_Final_Report.pdf
[6] https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/58982/1/58982.pdf
[6] https://www.sportengland.org/funding-and-campaigns/place-partnerships