When I was asked by IJP to make a film for London Probation to give magistrates an in-depth understanding of what happened to people serving community sentences I felt excited, if slightly daunted by the vast scope of issues the film could cover. One magistrate told me he sees the same people in court time and time again and wanted to know why, and what measures could change this. Another said that understanding the kinds of day-to-day issues many offenders are struggling with would help him sentence more appropriately.
We decided to focus on the stories of three individuals undertaking different intervention programmes as part of their sentence plan. The Women's Programme is a 3-month intensive couse aiming to build self-esteem, assertiveness and life skills to prevent re-offending. Lots of the women have difficulties saying 'no' to their partners or kids, and end up living outside their means and resorting to crime. They work on thinking more positively about themselves, the goals they want to achieve and how to manage bills and money. The women we met felt the course had given them the tools they needed to change their future.
The 9-month Domestic Abuse Programme was quite an eye-opener. It's not just about physical violence, but about all the other nuances of power play in personal relationships. The man we filmed was still together with his partner and child. His partner said he had really changed since doing the programme - he understood her needs better; listened more; and differences were now being resolved through talking rather than escalating into full-blown rows and fights.
Our final contributor was someone who's spent most of his adult life in and out of prison. Currently on a methodone prescription, he was attempting to break his heroin addiction and cut down on drinking. He was under intensive supervision and had daily appointments with different agencies. He told us that in the chaos of his life this structure was what kept him feeling safe. I hope the short amount of filming we did with him will help give magistrates a better understanding of the deeply-rooted, complex issues in people's lives that can lead them to keep re-offending. And that many need multiple interventions and different kinds of support before change really starts to happen.
Rosa Rogers, Producer/Director, Inside Job Productions
We decided to focus on the stories of three individuals undertaking different intervention programmes as part of their sentence plan. The Women's Programme is a 3-month intensive couse aiming to build self-esteem, assertiveness and life skills to prevent re-offending. Lots of the women have difficulties saying 'no' to their partners or kids, and end up living outside their means and resorting to crime. They work on thinking more positively about themselves, the goals they want to achieve and how to manage bills and money. The women we met felt the course had given them the tools they needed to change their future.
The 9-month Domestic Abuse Programme was quite an eye-opener. It's not just about physical violence, but about all the other nuances of power play in personal relationships. The man we filmed was still together with his partner and child. His partner said he had really changed since doing the programme - he understood her needs better; listened more; and differences were now being resolved through talking rather than escalating into full-blown rows and fights.
Our final contributor was someone who's spent most of his adult life in and out of prison. Currently on a methodone prescription, he was attempting to break his heroin addiction and cut down on drinking. He was under intensive supervision and had daily appointments with different agencies. He told us that in the chaos of his life this structure was what kept him feeling safe. I hope the short amount of filming we did with him will help give magistrates a better understanding of the deeply-rooted, complex issues in people's lives that can lead them to keep re-offending. And that many need multiple interventions and different kinds of support before change really starts to happen.
Rosa Rogers, Producer/Director, Inside Job Productions
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