Increased control over professional development

As demonstrated in section 5.3.2, wanting to develop professionally was a common motivation for joining BrightHorizons (see also Jackson and Innes, 2000; McMurran et al., 2008; Roth and Manger, 2014; Clinks, 2016). Indeed, over time participating in BrightHorizons appeared to have increased prisoners’ sense of control over achieving their professional goals in the longer-term. It appeared to have done so in four main ways. Namely, through discovering previously unidentified strengths in areas they perceived would be helpful for the future; inspiring their long-term career goals; providing experience of working life; and exposing them to networking and links to opportunities outside.

Firstly, most of the prisoners stated that since participating they had discovered strengths in areas that had previously gone unexplored or unnoticed. Finding that they possessed certain skills and testing them out - such as presenting to an audience, roleplaying, demonstrating patience and listening to others, which were all required by BrightHorizons - was enlightening for many:

“I didn't think I would be good at public speaking and I've excelled in that. I didn't think I could talk about my crime and I've been doing that… I haven't got a problem speaking about what I've been in jail for and how my upbringing has been. I've learnt to be patient and listen to these young people, because some of them can be very difficult and very challenging. It's

167 taught me many things, many hidden talents I didn't think I had but being on

the course has brought them out in me.” (Kieran)

In turn, they said that they were motivated to continue participating in BrightHorizons to hone these skills over time whilst they were in prison: “…the skills that I’ve learnt in it. Maybe it could be working with other people and interacting with them and that’s, obviously, stuff that’s only going to get better as I keep going through this programme.” (Gary). For some this was to put them in the strongest position possible once released, as Erica said, BrightHorizons had: “… made me motivated to want to do better in here and out there… just constantly achieving things and pushing me to where I want to be to when I get out really.” They also spoke of how recognising that they had various skills that could be drawn upon in the future made them feel more in control of overcoming barriers: “…you’re presenting and you’re developing skills and you think, “I could get up there, I could, I’m confident that I won’t have any problems.” You’ll get past the initial prejudice, the initial discrimination you might face…”(Ed).

Secondly, prisoners spoke of how participating in BrightHorizons had inspired their long-term career goals. Prisoners drew attention to how seeing that they could use their new-found skills to make a difference had motivated many to pursue something as challenging and meaningful as BrightHorizons post-release (see also Giles and Le, 2009). This was spoken of as a significant development because many had never been able to envisage themselves doing anything other than crime (see also Sowards, O’Boyle and Weissman, 2006):

“It’s not something that I’d ever thought I’d do but it’s crazy how I’m thinking about it now, you know, how I could do that, what, meet people and thinking about having good jobs and I could do that and I couldn’t do it before.” (Anthony)

For many these newly-realised goals revolved around continuing to work with young people, young offenders and/or ex-prisoners (see also section 8.5). They spoke of how this would allow them to continue to fulfil their motivation to give back whilst doing something they now knew they enjoyed and excelled at. At the same time, some felt that continuing in this line of work would reinforce their stated early commitment to desistance from crime in the longer-term and help them stay in control of their offending behaviour:

168 “…working within the restorative justice kind of environment, it’s a

reminder. It would be a constant reminder of how things can go wrong, you know, and if I’m working in that environment then I’m continuing to kind of spread the message and I’m continuing to reinforce my own message to myself, that you know, I don’t want to go down that track anymore.” (Jordan) “Yeah, once released I’ll probably try to get to something, I do, I’ve enjoyed working with these children so I wouldn’t mind trying to go and some kind of youth work because I feel I’d be good at it and I think this is something I could do and I think I’d enjoy it. One thing scares me that if I get released and I go to a job that I don’t enjoy that would be quite stressful to be honest with you. That starts off you know, coming, going to do crime again but I’d rather not, I don’t want to do that, I want a life, so I’m enjoying this so if I can do it in prison and help people what more than being free and doing it.” (James)

Others said that participating in BrightHorizons had inspired them to start their own business and/or charity in a similar field, which they now felt was achievable:

“I've got a few charity ideas…and BrightHorizons have given me a clearer picture of what I can do so even if there was no-one I can work with I will be trying to build and start my own charity. […] helping the kids from deprived backgrounds or less opportunity kids” (Marvin)

For others participating had inspired them to pursue degrees in related subjects like social work, youth studies and criminology:

“…it’s helped me in my profession, knowing what I want to do now and that’s like working with little kids and trying to get help kids in my situation… it’s made me think, “Do you know what, I want to go to uni.” I’ll probably study a degree and see if I can get into mentoring… criminology and psychology. I’m going to do a combined degree.” (Keira).

169 A third commonly mentioned way BrightHorizons facilitated prisoners’ perceived competence for professional development was that the programme environment resembled a real workplace and a ‘proper’ job. This made for a particularly meaningful context in which to develop themselves, because they were learning “how to be at work” (Mick), how to navigate the “kinds of adversities you have in normal life” (Kevin), and the “knowhow to manage myself” (Jordan) in a professional environment. They believed that this would help them face real post-release challenges, such as job interviews- which is not often true of prison-based activities (see Maruna, LeBel and Lanier, 2004; Toch, 2010):

“Confidence is a big thing for me, I know I keep saying this but like I said, I’ve never had a job so when I go for a job now I think that when I sit down at the interview table I will be able to tell them why I’m good at, why I’ll be good for the job… I believe that I could argue my point now, without being aggressive.” (Ollie)

Participating in BrightHorizons was perceived as the closest they could get to achieving their goal of legitimate employment whilst in prison. Thus, they remained motivated to turn up every day because: “…every time I do an event I’m gaining more and more experience” (Lauren). By participating in a regular full-time working week, they had proven themselves capable of leading a more conventional lifestyle: “…being in here and going to work, waking up every day and doing something to earn money, it kind of gave me a, kinda “I can do this”…(Joe).

A final way BrightHorizons increased prisoners’ sense of self-mastery was the opportunity for networking and links to potential future employers. As outlined in section 1.5.2, participating exposed prisoners to many individuals and organisations working in the area of youth justice (through Event Days and Information Days) - some of whom were open to employing ex- prisoners21_{. Having the opportunity to make an impression on such people - including teachers,} police and youth workers - was motivating because it increased their optimism for the future:

“…there’s a lot of people that come in and it could help with opportunities in the future for like when you get out and that to be able to maybe get in

21 _{This did happen from time to time. Some BrightHorizons participants who had been released had gone on to}

work for organisations who had worked with the charity in prison, for example St. Giles’ Trust and some schools. The prisoners interviewed in the current study may or may not have been aware of these examples.

170 with Youth Offending Teams and work alongside with them so it opens a lot

of doors for you…” (Claire)

Furthermore, that some of the professionals who brought the young people into the prison were ex-offenders themselves provided further reassurance that their own goals were attainable (see also Sowards, O’Boyle and Weissman, 2006): “…one of the people that brought young people in was a lifer, he used to be a lifer in prison and they’re now a youth support worker so it shows that it’s achievable, do you know what I mean?” (Lauren)

Others believed that connections they had made whilst participating had opened many doors for them (which few had anticipated when joining the programme), which facilitated motivation by providing something specific and tangible to work towards. Many referred to instances whereby visiting professionals had expressed an interest in working with them once they were released. Such offers were generally perceived as genuine, which was motivating for prisoners: “… to know that there’s people out there, one, willing to help and, two, that you’ve actually got something that you can, most probably, go out to…that’s amazing…” (Gary).

However, in the absence of any formal agreement between BrightHorizons and visiting organisations with regards to continued employment for prisoners, this motivation largely hinged on hope. Indeed, some were sceptical about the likelihood of participating securing future opportunities in this way:

“…when we deliver stuff, a lot of the time people will say, “We’d like it … if you came and worked for us” and stuff like that and obviously, some of it’s just lip service but it’d be nice if there’s a pathway to follow that you could come out and maybe get some employment. […] a lot of the guys that come through us, I feel like they have a lot to offer but it just gets thrown by the wayside.” (Corey)

Some expressed frustration that they had been encouraged towards this kind of work and developed a genuine interest in it - indicative of intrinsic motivation - but the perceived lack of support for finding related opportunities outside impeded satisfaction of the BPN for competence and undermined motivation (see also Turner, 2012):

171 “…it’d be good if some of the people that leave got an opportunity to maybe

get some employment with these people, maybe some links, you know like when we get released, you know it’d be good if they say, “You’ve done this” and maybe sort something out with our probation where we could maybe go to a school or community centre or something once a week to try and put us out there a bit more instead of keeping it all in the prison.” (Anthony)

“…obviously BrightHorizons is in [named prison] so they’re obviously, all they care about is the people that are here in [named prison] whilst they’re in [named prison]…it doesn’t really feel like I’m going to be doing much at all for BrightHorizons when I leave this prison.” (Mick)

Most, however, had accepted that the scope of BrightHorizons did not necessarily extend directly to the community, were grateful for the help they had already received, and felt that they were in control of their own success. As Matthew said: “…everything that I’ve learnt here are things that can be used upon release so yes…everything I’ve learnt, yes, it’s been very, it’s going to be helpful, I know it.” Similarly, Marvin said:

“I always feel more peaceful since coming to BrightHorizons as well, I'm more relaxed. Things can happen in their stride but obviously as long as you're pushing them in that direction you will succeed with whatever your vision is. […] anything more they're going to do, we'll have to see in the future in terms of where I go with my life, but I will never forget what they've done for me already in terms of changing my thought patterns or the rewarding way of seeing how my life will change, or setting me on the right path to change my life and take control of it. I respect them just for that anyway.”

Thus, fulfilment of BPNs for competence and autonomy over time spent participating

appeared to have facilitated broader, autonomously regulated motivation to pursue their long- term professional goals.

172