Building on the 2022 Journeys to Harmful Behaviour report, the project team worked with charities and organisations throughout the justice system, as well as the military community, to raise awareness of the report’s findings and recommendations. The project highlighted the importance of identifying former Service personnel as a distinct group, and the value of embedding support services throughout the criminal justice system. This includes within probation services and courts, as well as within prison services.

The project has laid the foundations for further work, including the development of dedicated training resources for criminal justice professionals to improve the understanding of the experiences and needs of former Service personnel. In addition, the project has led to an offshoot project focused on strengthening support for families of former Service personnel in the criminal justice system.

The project’s report also identifies areas where further progress is needed to fully realise the recommendations of the Journeys to Harmful Behaviour report:

  • Deeper understanding of how former Service personnel are considered within sentencing guidance and community support structures: an issue being explored through a new project funded by Forces in Mind Trust focused on understanding the sentencing experiences of former personnel
  • Continued cultural change: to address some of the more challenging aspects of military culture.
  • Expanded trauma-informed practice and the development of specialised pathways: to better address the underlying causes that can lead to former Service personnel becoming involved with the criminal justice system.

The project was funded by an “accelerator” grant from Forces in Mind Trust, designed to utilise existing evidence to increase impact.

Helen Schofield, Chief Executive at the Probation Institute,

“Journeys to Harmful Behaviour showed the challenges and pathways that lead to the involvement of former Service personnel in the criminal justice system; focusing on a small but significant group who had committed very serious offences of harm and examining the challenges faced during their life courses.

This project has helped ensure those findings are put into practice, so that learnings in supporting former Service personnel can be more effectively implemented. There is still much more to be done to understand the impact of military culture on offending, how to support service personnel who have experienced early adverse experiences, and how former military status affects sentencing.”

Dr Emma Murray at the Centre of Excellence for Equity in Uniformed Public Services (CEEUPS) at Anglia Ruskin University,

“Through this acceleration grant we were able to work collaboratively with those delivering services and making policy decisions across policing, prisons, probation, and armed services charities to explore the translation of those findings into practice. This report identifies concrete gaps and recommendations which have been co-designed with partners to drive real improvements in veterans’ outcomes. CEEUPS is delighted to have partnered with the Probation Institute on this project and is committed to continuing this work through family specific workshops and participatory research with Veterans in Custody Support Officers as equal research partners, so that the gaps identified continue to narrow.”

Michelle Alston, Chief Executive of Forces in Mind Trust,

“Whilst the vast majority of Service personnel transition successfully out of the Armed Forces, a small minority become involved in the criminal justice system. This project has helped bring together those who shape policy and deliver services to consider how existing evidence can be better used to improve outcomes for former Service personnel within the criminal justice system.”

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The full report from this project can be read here

Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) was founded in 2011 with a £35 million endowment from the National Lottery Community Fund to improve transition to civilian life for Service leavers and their families. Our mission is to enable successful and sustainable transition to civilian life. FiMT delivers this mission by funding high quality, credible research where there is an identified gap in relevant understanding, and by then exploiting the findings, FiMT aims to effect positive change.

 

www.fim-trust.org |@FiMTrust