A systematic exploration of informal mechanisms of change on the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway across prisons and probation

Purpose The Offender Personality Disorder Pathway (OPDP) in England and Wales provides around 3,000 specialist prison and community-based treatment places annually. However, the efficacy of interventions remains unclear despite recent national quantitative and qualitative evaluations. This is partly because models of care are designed to be holistic and responsive, but measures of change capture formal treatment of the offender group only. The purpose of this study is to qualitatively explore individual informal activities, relationships and support, alongside barriers and responsivity factors that contribute to offender change in specialist services, as a first step to informing a comprehensive study of OPDP services. Design/methodology/approach Nineteen focus groups were conducted with 86 expert participants living and working across four male and two female prison sites and the London Probation Service. Framework analysis was used to systematically analyse all data. Findings Two main themes of “interactive informal mechanisms of change” and “internal and external factors interacting with mechanisms of change” with five further sub-themes were found to enable or inhibit successful pathway progression over time and provision. Research limitations/implications The findings indicate a starting point for better capturing the full complexity of provisions and service participants in future evaluations of the OPDP services. Originality/value This study is the first to comprehensively explore all informal mechanisms of change on the OPDP across a whole partnership service, revealing their range, adaptability, interactive nature and integrality to models of care.