Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train

Having been lucky enough to score tickets to 'Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train's matinee show at Trafalgar Studios, a couple of us from IJP got the opportunity to be treated to a wonderful theatrical experience.   The production, written by Stephen Adly Guirgis and brought to life by Synergy Theatre Projects, was expertly performed under the direction of Esther Baker and a team of fine actors – some of whom were ex-offenders.

The prison drama explored the lives of two prisoners – Lucius & Angel - as they battled with their conscience, the crimes committed, and the possibilities of salvaging their souls through faith in God. The show throws open the doors to questions surrounding the criminal justice system and its failures, as well as the internal battle that rages in prisoners, lawyers and prison staff as they interact with each other and the system. Overall, the performances were phenomenal with dialogues tailored to make one laugh out loud and reflect at the same time.

More importantly, taking a step back from the plot and the hard-hitting dialogues, the show reinforces the value that artistic approaches can have in giving life to serious and often dry topics such as rehabilitation and the criminal justice system prompting dialogue amongst audiences and ex-offenders. And it can have consequences beyond the stage. One of the main aims of the Synergy Theatre Projects is to work with ex-offenders and turn them into exceptional actors, so they are providing prisoners with a way to ease back into life outside prison thus potentially contributing to a reduction in re-offending rates. IJP has a similar scheme where we train offenders & ex-offenders interested in the production aspects of film-making as well as equipping them with the skills required to confidently move forward.

Communication via creative avenues such as film and theatre creates opportunities not only to entertain, but also to inspire educate and question – in this case, it gave voice to the lives, thoughts and battles of all those interacting with the criminal justice system in different capacities. Anyone else seen great examples of the use of creative mediums that prompt discussions about the criminal justice system?

Vineetha A. George, Marketing Assistant, Inside Job Productions

Jailbrake

A few months ago NESTA and the people at Social Innovation Camp launched the Jailbreak challenge. They wanted to know if simple web and mobile tools that we use everyday could be used to divert young people from the criminal justice system and break the cycle of reoffending.

At Media for Development we are always thinking about what makes ‘good’ communication; this isn’t just what font to use on a poster or how long your mailing list is, its about creating tools and campaigns that can empower and mobilise people by providing effective and relevant information. One problem that had us scratching our heads is the disconnect between young people and local services; on the one hand you have young people saying there is no support offered when they are in trouble and on the other you have brilliant local services with dedicated staff saying that young people don’t come to them for help when then need it. What could we use to overcome this problem?

We’ve done a lot of work with young people and have to spend a long time convincing them to turn off their mobile phones. That got us thinking. There are surveys that show young people would rather go without new clothes than give up their mobiles. Scare stories that the shape of their thumbs are changing because they text so much… could we take this love of mobiles and somehow use it to connect young people and local services?

That's how the idea for Lost and Found was born! – an SMS service that would enable young people to locate local services relevant to the issues they face. All they need to do is text help, select the issue they are facing e.g. drugs and alcohol and, and with a little technical magic, they would get a text back telling them where to go locally to get help.

We submitted the idea to Jailbrake and they decided it would be one of six ideas that would be developed over the course of the Jailbreak weekend. Working with other social entrepreneurs, criminal justice practitioners and technical boffins we would have 48 hours to make a working model!

Saturday 9am sharp, we were off. Our team, fuelled by croissants and strong coffee began brainstorming all the features Lost and Found could have, while the technical folk told us whether it was possible to do. This way of working was brilliant: called Agile Design by those in the know, it basically means that you get everyone – stakeholders, designers, practitioners – together in one room and talk about what you what to achieve, then the designers work out how to make it happen and set about building a prototype.

By the next day, bleary eyed but very excited, we had a working text message system! I could send a text from my phone asking about a particular problem and a few seconds later a text came back telling where the nearest, open support service was including a map, telephone number and short description. This was great. Imagine a young person who is having problems with alcohol; they know they need help but don’t know where to find it. They don’t want to use the internet because they are embarrassed and their computer is shared with brothers, sisters and parents. Within a couple of minutes and no more that three texts, they can get the information they need, only using their own private mobile phone.

We demonstrated Lost in Found in front of a judging panel including representative from the Youth Justice Board and the Prison Reform Trust. The moment of truth came when we got the entire room (well the ones we could get off Twitter for a few seconds) to text ‘help’ to Lost and Found and get information back… a few seconds of deathly silence… followed by beeps and chirps all over the room as the system began to work!

We were absolutely elated as the weekend ended. We had proved that Lost and Found could work and the judging panel agreed, awarding us second place over all. Although the weekend is finished, Lost and Found is not.  We are now thinking about how to scale it up and roll it out so young people can access the support they need, wherever and whenever.    

Christy McAleese works as Office Manager for IJP and project manager at Media for Development.   

IJP’s income helps to fund the development of projects that empower isolated communities through media, many of which stem from extensive experience in the criminal justice and wider third sectors.