Community Justice Files 32
| Author | Dr Nick Flynn |
| Pages | 69-72 |
69
COMMUNITY JUSTICE FILES 32
Edited by Nick Flynn, De Montfort University
Joint inspection of Integrated Offender Manageme nt
A new joint report b y HM Inspectorate of Probation and HM Inspectorate of Constabulary
on the Integrated Offender Management approach to reducing reoffending has found that
of the six areas and 108 cases inspected, “not all areas had embraced Integrated Offender
Management in an effective way” (9). Given Integrated Offender Manage ment is premised
on local partner organisations working closely together to reduce crime committed by
high risk offenders, the report raises key concerns about “differing degrees of
commitment to the approach among the relevant agencies”. In those areas in particular
where probation trusts had not committed sufficient resources, the police had b een left to
deliver both control and rehabilitative functions when “their principal role should be
gathering and disseminating in telligence and enforcement”. As a consequence, “the
characteristics of the approach, and the nature of the offenders managed under it, vary
significantly from place to place” (9).
Another critical issue raised was the lack of a structured and systematic approach to
evaluation. While most areas had attempted to measure outcomes and assess overall
effectiveness of Integrated Offender Management “all had used different methodologies
and none were statistically sophisticated” (9). Despite these criticisms, the report did
identify some achi evements of the Integrated Offender Management approach. The right
offenders were being targeted, and Improvements had been made to their lives on such
issues as substance abuse. Moreover, alth ough reoffendin g rates were disappointingly
high (60% of the sample of offenders in cluded in the inspection had been breached or
reconvicted) this was considered “symptomatic of the entrenched pattern of offending
among the Integrated Management cohort, rather than as a failure of t he approach itself”.
Nevertheless, the overall effectiveness of Integrat ed Offender Management remains
unproven. In the forward to the report, the Chief Inspectors of Probation and
Constabulary conclude that:
…the absence of clear evidence of effectiveness in terms of both crime
reduction and reducing reoffending inhibits understanding of its im pact and
value. If the evidence showed that Integ rated Offender Management was
successful in reducing crime and reoffendin g, there would be a strong case
British Journal of Community Justice
©2014 Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield
ISSN 1475-0279
Vol. 12(1): 69-72
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