Pilot evaluation of the electronic monitoring scheme in the UK

Pilot evaluation of the electronic monitoring scheme in the UK James William Churchman, Susan Baron, Michelle Carr, Donna Orr The Journal of Forensic Practice, Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print, pp.- Following research into the application of Electronic Monitoring (EM), Criminal Justice Order (2016) no. 954 was published, which introduced EM for offenders leaving custody in England and Wales (Ministry of Justice, 2016). EM was later extended to include those subjected to release on temporary licence (ROTL). The purpose of this study is to be the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to evaluate a pilot project using EM during the ROTL process. The outcome allowed for recommendations to be made regarding the continued use of EM within the open prison estate.This is a qualitative research project involving semi-structured interviews with staff and residents. Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis which resulted in exploration of 4 themes and 11 sub-themes and recommendations for future research/practice.Results demonstrated that both staff and residents evaluated the use of EM as helpful with regard to evidencing compliance with ROTL conditions. In addition, staff also found it helpful for providing additional reassurance to victims and providing evidence for ROTL breaches.To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this was the first qualitative evaluation of EM relating to the ROTL process. The evaluation improves understanding of the value of EM for p...
Source: Journal of Forensic Practice - Category: Forensic Medicine Authors: Source Type: research