stop - Violence Reduction Unit...

stopGlasgow’s Community Initiative to Reduce Violence

Second Year Report

thestop

CIRV was introduced to tacklehead-on the territorial gang violencethat has blighted communities inGlasgow for decades; violence thathas damaged the city’s reputation.The CIRV programme has in two yearsdemonstrated our ability to work incollaboration towards better outcomesfor some of the most disadvantagedindividuals and communities in theUK. It has evolved to fit with theGlasgow experience of street gangsand, as the ongoing independentevaluation is beginning todemonstrate, has had additional widersocial advantages of violencereduction which are also beginning tobe felt in these communities: CIRVnow attracts positive comment frommembers of the community,commentators and the agencies andgroups delivering the programme.

From the outset, we said that eachagency and group doing what theyhad always done in response to gangviolence was not good enough:

I am delighted to present the second year report for Glasgow’sCommunity Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV), the ViolenceReduction Unit’s gang intervention programme. CIRV wasestablished in the east end of Glasgow in October 2008, to test forthe first time in the UK the concept of a model already usedsuccessfully in several cities in the USA. Such was the project’ssuccess, we extended it into the north of the city in 2009. Theevidenced and documented success of the initiative to date hasresulted in a consensus among partners to establish the interventionon a mainstream, citywide basis.

it simply wasn’t working. CIRV istherefore not simply an initiative but amethod of changing the way each andevery organisation involved in theprevention of gang violence doesbusiness, individually andcollaboratively. By being brave andpragmatic, CIRV has establishedunique ways of information sharingbetween partners to ensure that themost appropriate client-basedinterventions are put in place. Strongenforcement is backed up bycommunity based engagement andpersonal development programmes ina co-ordinated, focused way ratherthan in the previous piecemealmanner. Such co-ordination is noteasy: years of working in thesometimes narrow confines of ourindividual organisations means that attimes the territorialism betweenstatutory partners has become asdamaging to long term violencereduction as the territorialismbetween gangs themselves. The CIRVapproach eliminates bureaucratic

divisions and gives way to a fresh,truly multi-disciplined approachfocused on clear outcomes that are inkeeping with the priorities forGlasgow’s future.

Planning for the expansion of CIRVacross the city is at an advancedstage. This journey will be a long oneand will require our collectivecommitment to ensure the successeswe have earned so far are notsquandered. I commend this report toall stakeholders across the CIRVnetwork and I would like to thank youall for your continued support. I askonly that you maintain your energyand commitment to embed thisprogramme into our daily business.

Detective Chief Superintendent John Carnochan, QPM FFPHHead, Violence Reduction Unit

Foreword

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Evaluating initiatives such as CIRV is a real challenge. They are notneat, randomised trials undertaken in a controlled environment,rather they are real world responses to a complicated, challengingand ever evolving problem. Young men engage at differing pointsand to varying degrees, other initiatives inevitably impact and thelocal, national, organisational and political environments swirl withcomplexity. But such complexities add interest and intellectualchallenge and that is why my colleagues and I at St AndrewsUniversity were delighted to respond positively to John Carnochan’sinvitation to undertake an independent evaluation of the CIRVproject. We are doing so with enthusiasm and rigour. We will submitour main scientific paper for peer review by the end of 2011. In themeantime I fully understand the need for the CIRV team to publishin this two year report some emergent and preliminary results.These seem very promising and once refined and tested throughdefinitive analysis, peer review and publication they seem likely toadd weight to World Health Organisation’s belief that “Violence ispreventable, not inevitable”.

Peter Donnelly MD MPH MBA FRCP FFPHProfessor of Public Health MedicineUniversity of St Andrews

Foreword from independent evaluator

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Testing the CIRV concept of gangintervention in Glasgow across twoyears has brought some considerablechallenges to everyone involved: notonly has it challenged statutoryservice providers to inwardly questiontheir own processes and capacities fordealing with the chronic historicalissue of gang violence in the city, but,more crucially, it has tested the youngpeople’s own personal values andattitudes to violence, questioningthem at every turn and challengingthem to engage in a very different, yetfar more positive, lifestyle.

On 24 October 2008, 129 street gang members from the east end ofGlasgow accepted an invitation to attend Glasgow Sheriff Court tohear a very strong and clear message from their community: ‘theviolence must stop’. Since this first gang ‘call-in’ nine further suchsessions have taken place, with almost 400 young people having sofar given a written pledge that they would put down their weaponsand engage positively with the CIRV programme.

To that end, the process of movingCIRV onwards from a ‘concept’ to betested in the east end of Glasgow to amainstream citywide intervention iscurrently ongoing. Police, social work,education, housing, community andvoluntary groups, community safetyservices, a wide variety of partneragencies and, more importantly, theCIRV clients themselves, havedemonstrated considerablewillingness to move on. But we arereally only at the beginning. This willtake time and considerable effort fromus all.

Thank you for your support

Chief Inspector Robert StevensonProject Manager- CIRV

Introduction

The commitment to the CIRVphilosophy, not only by partneragencies but particularly those younggang members who have engaged,has made many of us with a statutoryrole recognise that a largelyun-coordinated response, historicallybased entirely on enforcement only, isno longer an option: it has failed. Thisnew approach is already working, butsuch is the deep rooted nature of aproblem which we have allowed tobecome ‘normal’ on our streets thatwe must continue that which CIRVhas demonstrated can be done acrossthe entire city for many years to come.

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The initiative is a focused deterrencestrategy modelled on the BostonCeasefire project and the CincinnatiInitiative to Reduce Violence. TheCIRV model* establishes a partnershipamong police, social services,education, housing and communitysafety services along with the localcommunity and delivers a clearmessage to established street gangs:the violence must stop.

Following the success of suchstrategies internationally, Scotland’snational Violence Reduction Unit,together with the ScottishGovernment, has been testing theconcept in Glasgow’s east end sinceOctober 2008, extending the project tothe north of the city during 2009.

The CIRV model is comprised of threebasic components:1. Enforcement2. Services and programmes3. The moral voice

of the community

Enforcement

The intent of the enforcement elementof the CIRV model is to disrupt thedynamics within those street gangswhose members are frequentlyinvolved in violent activity. A clearmessage is communicated to thegroup - ‘stop the violence’. If anindividual within a gang commits anact of violence, enforcement is focusedon that group as a whole. Three keyactivities are essential in delivering onthis promise:

• Intelligence Gathering

• Gang Violence Analysis

• Group Targeted Enforcement

Street gang enforcement activity withinthe CIRV project area has been co-ordinated and delivered principally bythe Strathclyde Police Gangs Taskforceand local divisional personnel.

Services & Programmes

Alongside the message to stop theviolence is a positive message of hope.CIRV makes a range of services andprogrammes available to violent streetgang members who agree to changetheir lives and move to anemployment based lifestyle. Theintent is to offer a constructivealternative to those who have beencaught up in violent gang activity andwho themselves recognise a real andurgent need to change. Glasgow’s CIRV utilises both anexisting network of services in the citytogether with some new programmeswhich have been specifically tailoredto meet the needs of gang members.

Glasgow’s Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) is a multi-agency and community-centred project designed to reduceviolent behaviour amongst gang members.

1. Background

*Source: University of Cincinnati Policing Institute

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This full-time, four week personaldevelopment programme was designedexclusively for those CIRV clients whohave been identified during the casemanagement process as being involvedat the highest level of street gangviolence. Each course is delivered tomembers of various different gangswho have traditionally engaged inviolence against one another, makingthe early days of each courseparticularly challenging.

Delivered by Kan-do Sports byinstructors who themselves have hadprevious personal involvement in ganglife, the course engages clients

closely with CIRV and enables them to discuss and reflect on their ownexperiences. The ‘vehicles’ fordelivering the work include inputsfrom role models, sports coaching and group work sessions. Course content includes:

• Employment registration andcareer essentials programme,regular visits to Job Centre Plus and potential employers

• Workshops on visualisation, affirmation and emotional intelligence

• Conflict resolution workshopsand team building activities

Following their graduation from thecourse, and provided they have notre-offended and no police intelligenceabout them has been received, clients progress to the four week CIRV Employability Programme.

Implementation of the CIRV methodology also requires thecommunity being affected by gang violence to both receive anddeliver the following messages:

• Stop the violence• We care about our young

people, wanting to see thembeing neither the victims northe perpetrators of gangviolence

• We will no longer tolerate violence in our community

Glasgow’s CIRV has entered intounique working relationships with keycommunity groups, leaders andinspired individuals who have formeda partnership in delivering these keymessages in their respectivecommunities.

The CIRV Tackling Gang Violence Programme

1. Background

Moral Voice of theCommunity

• Territorialism sessions raisingawareness of the impact of gang violence on communities

• Anti-knife crime modules

• Drug and alcohol awarenessworkshops

• Motivational modules

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Having originally been established toapply the concept in the east of thecity for the first two years, the CIRVproject team carried out a mid-termreview during 2009 and identifiedexisting capacity and considerablepartner support for extension of theprogramme into the north of Glasgow.This began formally on 2 October2009, following a further intelligencegathering phase which identified afurther 21 gangs with around 400members in that part of the city.

Includem Gangs Project

2. The Glasgow CIRV Experience

Funded on a two year basis by The Robertson Trust and ScottishGovernment, its objectives are to:

• Reduce offending andre-offending behaviour

• Encourage young people to consider victim issues and theeffects of antisocial behaviour

• Reduce antisocial and negative peer association

• Improve young people’s self esteem and sense of purpose

• Support and enable parents and carers to help keep youngpeople safe in the community

• Support access to education, employment or other structured activities

• Support a reduction in alcohol and drug use

All CIRV clients who take part in theproject do so on a voluntary basis. The main focus of work to date hasbeen around offending behaviour,building resilience around the client’semotional wellbeing and increasingengagement with employment,education and training.

There has been a significantreduction in offending by those takingpart in the Includem project, ashighlighted in the CIRV PerformanceMeasurement section of this report.

As part of its commitment to providingpersonal mentoring support to themost challenging of street gangmembers in the city, CIRV hasentered into a partnership with theIncludem charity and StrathclydePolice Gangs Taskforce to identify,target and provide intensive one toone support to those CIRV clients whoare causing a disproportionate amountof crime within specific geographicallocations. Clients referred are thosewho are considered to be at thehighest levels of risk, who have notreceived existing social work supportand who have tended to be mostresistant to engaging with CIRV’sother services.

Glasgow’s Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) wasformally introduced to the city on 24 October 2008. During theinitial intelligence gathering phase detailed analysis was carriedout on Glasgow’s gang culture, highlighting the existence of around55 known and established street gangs across the east end of thecity with around 600-700 members.

Enforcement operations have alsobeen carried out against those whohave continued to violently offend. Inaddition, a mentoring servicedeveloped by the project, whichincludes an intensive support servicein partnership with the Includemcharity, provides appropriate supportto each and every CIRV client.Meanwhile CIRV’s Careers Scotlandkeyworker support service, whichseeks to improve clients’ employabilityprospects, won the UK Innovation inSocial Inclusion Award in 2009.

Through intensive engagement bypolice officers and communitypartners, 10 self referral sessions atGlasgow Sheriff Court have beenattended by 473 young people.Around 400 gang members have goneon to actively engage with CIRVduring the initial two year projectperiod. Each one has given a writtenpledge to stop their violent behaviour.

The CIRV multi-agency casemanagement process has referredmany of these clients to a range ofprogrammes and services, as deliveredby a network of CIRV partners.

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As expected, the experience of CIRVin Glasgow has been very different tothat of the USA. Street gangs inGlasgow are very distinct andseparate from those organised crimegroups which exist for criminalenterprise purposes. Glasgow’s streetgangs have no identified hierarchy.Use of firearms is extremely rare; theweapon of choice remains the knife,as has been the case for decades. Theage profile is also considerably lowerthan in the United States: inCincinnati the average age of a CIRVclient is 32; in Glasgow it is 16. Ourcommitment to early and effectiveintervention has required us to designand deliver tailored diversionactivities and programmes for theunder-16 age group. This includesthose who have been identified asbeing at the early stages of gangviolence but who have

as yet not been classified as an‘offender’. In the United States,however, CIRV concentrates its effortson the adult prison population, wherestreet gang membership often lastswell into adult life and the role andstructure of each gang is verydifferent to the Glasgow gang. Assuch, we have had to significantlyevolve and shape our approach to fitGlasgow’s needs ahead ofmainstream roll-out in 2011. Theorganisational structure of the CIRVCo-ordinating Team reflects this, asdo the range of programmes andservices that have been developed.Glasgow also starts from a position ofconsiderable strength compared toother cities around the world, as therealready exists a multitude of bothlocal and citywide organisations, fromvoluntary to statutory, targetingvarious form of antisocial behaviour.

What has been lacking is effectiveco-ordination and information sharingamongst those with similar aims. Aprimary purpose of CIRV in Glasgowhas not therefore been to deliver asingle service replacement for thatwhich already exists, but rather tobetter co-ordinate the overall responseto street gang violence. CIRV is alsocommitted to creating a lastinglegacy of trained conflict resolutionpractitioners and mentors available towork with street gangs in groupworkor on a one to one basis throughoutthe most challenging periods of theirlives. As such, four formal trainingprogrammes have been designed anddelivered to over 80 partner agencystaff and ex- gang members, puttingthem in a position to work with CIRVand train future workers in these roles.

CIRV’s GRIP programme is designed to help young people turn away frominvolvement in violent or aggressive behaviour and keep them from any furtherinvolvement in the youth justice system. Originally delivered within St Mungo’sSecondary School to those identified by staff as requiring support, it is designedto change the way the participants respond to challenge from others.

As part of the programme the young person’s pastoral care staff, policecampus officer and CIRV mentor meet to discuss and agree a plan of activitiesto offer them a chance to make some effective changes. A range of group workservices, sports activities and experiential learning sessions are deliveredalongside Kan-do Sports. These are designed to offer personal developmentand life skills training and are proven to build self-esteem and confidence andmotivate young people to think positively about the opportunities in their lives,particularly in relation to lifestyle choices, health and antisocial behaviour.

‘Get A G.R.I.P.’ (Gang

Reduction Intervention Programme)

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There has been an average 46%reduction in violent offending by thosegang members who have engagedwith CIRV so far and a 34% reductionin all other types of crimes and offences.Involvement in gang fighting hasreduced by an average of around 73%,and weapon possession by 85%.Violent offending has reduced by 56%(and other types of offending by 34%)amongst those clients who have beensubject to CIRV’s most intensivepersonal development andemployability programmes, whilethose subject to Includem intensiveone to one long-term support havereduced their violent activity andother criminal behaviour by 73% and 62% respectively.

The purpose of the initial two year‘proof of concept’ was always to do justthat: gauge the effectives of this typeof approach in Glasgow and thereafterextend it on a mainstream basis. This extension is ongoing, as is theidentification of funding opportunities.

CIRV was never designed as a researchprogramme. Rather, it is a real world,practical, community-basedintervention and we need to knowwhich bits work best. This is why wehave subjected the programme toindependent academic evaluation bycolleagues from St Andrews UniversityMedical School.

As Professor Donnelly points out in hisevaluation foreword, that processinvolves preparing a scientific paperfor peer review and publication, thepace of this being determined by theneed for post-intervention behavioursto have been observed for a sufficientperiod. We anticipate the submissionof a scientific paper for review no laterthan the end of 2011. In the meantime,initial (and of necessity, incomplete)analysis of emergent figures gives usgood reason for optimism.

As part of its role in creating a cohort of committed conflict resolutionpractitioners to deliver groupwork sessions to street gang members in the city,CIRV has commissioned the Leap Confronting Conflict charity to deliver aseries of structured ongoing training courses to partners and volunteers(including ex gang members). The various courses have principally:

• Developed partners’ awareness of conflict and their attitudes, habitsand behaviours in conflict situations, enabling them to workmore effectively with others in the role of conflict resolutionpractitioner

• Presented challenges for professionals working with young peopleand developed their ability to work creatively and constructivelywith those affected by gangs and territorialism by sharingeffective models and techniques

• Trained those trainers who already have some experience ofconfronting conflict or related work with young people and adults,providing an opportunity to develop participants’ abilities tofacilitate groupwork sessions themselves

In addition, as part of its ambition to expand its client mentoring service,CIRV and Leap have developed a unique training package (the CIRV MentorTraining Programme) which offers professionals and volunteers anintroduction to the role of mentoring street gang members.

CIRV ConflictResolutionand MentorTraining (inpartnershipwith Leap

ConfrontingConflict)

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Over the two year period, CIRV project management developed a multi-agency Co-ordinating Team and organisationalstructure to ensure effective operation and delivery of the strategy. Developed, amended and tested across the period, thecurrent structure is shown above. This will be extended to meet the future three year plan for citywide delivery from 2011-2014.

1Organisational StructureStrategic Oversight Group: executive level representation from national Violence Reduction Unit, Scottish Government, Strathclyde Police, Glasgow City Council Social Work, Education and CommunitySafety Services, Glasgow Housing Association, Procurator Fiscal Service, Children’s Reporter, Jobcentre Plus, Skills Development Scotland, Glasgow Community Planning Partnership and the University ofSt Andrews. Project Management: Project Manager - Chief Inspector Robert Stevenson, Strathclyde Police; Deputy Project Manager - Inspector Stephen McNeill, Strathclyde Police Case Management:Case Managers – Jane McGrory, Glasgow Housing Association; Heather Waterston, Glasgow Community and Safety Services. Enforcement and Engagement: Area Team Lead – Sergeant AimeeCanavan, Strathclyde Police; Area Team – Constable Paul Parkes, Constable Dario D’Andrea, Strathclyde Police Partnerships in Early Intervention: Early Intervention Officer – Harry Campbell, Glasgow CityCouncil Education Services. Intelligence, Research & Analytical Support: Analyst Coordinator – Will Linden, Violence Reduction Unit; Analyst Coordinator – Fiona Torrance, Strathclyde Police; SeniorAnalyst – position currently vacant. Communications: Communications Manager – Caroline Foulkes, Violence Reduction Unit; Website Coordinator – Chris Kavanagh, Violence Reduction UnitSocial Services Liaison: Social Service Leads (East and North) – Agnes McQuillan and Linda Haggerty, Glasgow City Council Social Work Department Employment and Employability Support:Keyworker Support – Skills Development Scotland. Mentoring Coordination:Mentoring Coordinator, Peer Mentoring Lead – both positions currently vacant Mentoring and Conflict Resolution PractitionerPool: range of partners, ex-gang members and volunteers from across the CIRV network. Community Engagement: Community Engagement Officer – Alex Cunningham, Aberlour Trust.

The CIRV ProcessGlasgow’s CIRV process, fromidentification of violent gang memberto engagement, client managementand referral to services is summarisedleft. Targeted enforcement has beencarried out where gang membershave continued to offend. CIRV is creating a series of PracticeNotes outlining its processes in moredetail. These can be accessed as theyare published via the ViolenceReduction Unit websitewww.actiononviolence.com

3. Project Delivery: what we did

Strategic Oversight Group

Project Management

Intelligence, Research & Analytical Support Communications Case Management Enforcement &

Engagement

Mentoring Co-ordination Partnerships in EarlyIntervention

Employment andEmployability Support Community Engagement

Mentoring and ConflictResolution Practitioner PoolSocial Services Liaison 1

Intelligence Gathering and Analysis

Information obtained from the community outliningcurrent numbers of gangs in each area, their territories,rivals and individual membership, is collated, recordedand mapped by criminal justice partners, recordedwithin Scottish Intelligence Database, GCSS OffenderManagement Matrix and Strathclyde Police GangsTaskforce Database and developed into CIRVEngagement Target List.

Gang Engagement (including Self Referral)

Invitations to those within CIRV Engagement TargetList via referral from community groups and partners,home visits, letter, and/or attendance at CIRV SelfReferral Session at Glasgow Sheriff Court, followed bysigning of ‘pledge of non-violence’ by client.

Case Management

Carried out by way of twice weekly case conference,involving the sharing of relevant client informationbetween Police, Social Work, Education, Housing,Community Safety and Employment Services. Updateof client progress and referral to relevant programme orservice, allocation of mentor and creation of clientspecific action plan.

Programmes and Services (including Mentoring)

Range of personal development, employability,mentoring, intensive support and diversion activities,to which clients are referred via case managementprocess. Sourced either from existing services in thecity, or as developed and tailored by CIRV and itspartners to meet specific client group needs.

Enforcement

Targeted enforcement activity, prioritisedaccording to how recently an incidenthappened, frequency of incidents andgravity of offending, is carried out byStrathclyde Police Gangs Taskforce againstthose groups and individuals who havefailed to take heed of the message “theviolence must stop”. Disengagement of anyexisting CIRV clients involved in violentactivity. Engagement of target clientsfollowing enforcement operation.

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This reduction in violent offendingincreased to 56% amongst those whoparticipated in CIRV’s most intensivepersonal development andemployability programmes, whilethose who have taken part inintensive support work with theIncludem charity have reduced theirviolent offending behaviour by 73%,with a 62% reduction in all othercrime/offence types. In effect, CIRVclients have on average decreasedtheir violence levels by approximately22% more than the other groups whowere exposed to other existingservices and the general

Average changes in offending behaviour across CIRV client group

Statistical changes in violent offending behaviour are detailed below.

4. CIRV PerformanceMeasurement

CIRV clients Non-CIRV clientsViolence:Assault -11% -14%Breach of the Peace (Gang fighting) -73% -55%Possession of a Knife -59% +19%Possession of a weapon -85% -53%Serious Violence -15% +9%

All Violence: -46% -25%

CIRV has had a major impact on the lives of those who have so farengaged, with clients showing a significant reduction in violentre-offending rates compared with those who have so far refused totake part. For example, CIRV clients have, on average, demonstrateda 46% reduction in violent offending as opposed to a 25% reductionamongst non-CIRV groups.

carrying clearly has a very positiveeffect on the potential seriousness ofassaults and victim injuries.

When comparing the overall violencerates for both Glasgow East and similarareas in the south of the city, there wasa 12% decrease in the total violence inthe east, whereas the test areas of thesouth experienced a 1% increase.Whilst it is not possible to conclude thatCIRV is having a knock-on communityeffect without more in-depthanthropological research, there areclearly some community factors atwork to affect the overall crime rates.

Strathclyde-wide policing strategy.There has also been a 34% reductionin the numbers of other non-violentcrimes and offences committed byCIRV clients before and after theirengagement with the programme.Particularly problematic behavioursuch as knife and weapons carryinghas demonstrated decreases of 59%and 85% respectively by CIRV clients, whereas in the Glasgow South area,where CIRV does not yet operate,gang members’ weapon possessiondecreased by 53%, with knifepossession actually increasing by 19%.This reduction in knife and weapons

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Changes in Violent Offending amongst CIRV Clients* and Non CIRV Clients**

Changes in the Number of Weapon Carrying Offences Committed by CIRV Clients* vs Non CIRV Clients**

-24.7%Non-CIRV clients

-46.5%CIRV clients


-85%CIRV clients

* Offending for the length of engagement prior to signing up to CIRV vs offending after signing up.

**Random sample of 200 G Division (south side of Glasgow) gang members who are not engaged in CIRV. Offending for thetwo years before CIRV started vs offending for the two years after CIRV started.

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Changes in Knife Carrying Offences Committed by CIRV Clients* vs Non CIRV Clients**

Changes in Breach of the Peace (Gang Fighting) Offences Committed by CIRV Clients* vs Non CIRV Clients**

19.4%Non-CIRV clients

-58.8%CIRV clients

0%


-73%CIRV clients

*Offending for the length of engagement prior to signing up to CIRV vs offending after signing up

*Offending for the length of engagement prior to signing up to CIRV vs offending after signing up.

**Random sample of 200 G Division (south side of Glasgow) gang members who are not engaged in CIRV. Offending for thetwo years before CIRV started vs offending for the two years after CIRV started.

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Changes in offending behaviour amongst highest risk groups selected to attend most intensive CIRVpersonal development and employability programmes.

Violent Offending Other crimes CIRV Tackling GangViolence Programme -46% -28%(with Kando Sports)

As above, with onward Referral to CIRV -56% -34%Employability Programme (with The Bambury)

Changes* in offending amongst CIRV clients who attended the CIRV tackling gang violence programme and theCIRV Employability Programme (Kan-do and Bambury)

-34%Other Crimes

-56%Violent Crimes

* Offending for length of engagement prior to signing up to CIRV vs offending after signing up

CIRV Employability Programme

Previously delivered in partnership with The Bambury Regeneration Centre in the Barrowfield area of Glasgow, theCIRV Employability Programme was delivered to those who successfully graduated from the CIRV Tackling GangViolence Programme. Consisting of a range of personal development modules and employment training activities,including health and safety, literacy and numeracy, CV building and sporting activities, the programme was linkedto several local employers. Bids to Westminster’s Future Jobs Fund via this programme secured funding for 40 fulltime posts for those CIRV clients who had successfully come through the programme without incurring any newoffences or negative police intelligence reports.

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Changes* in offending behaviour of CIRV clients who attended the CIRV tackling gang violence programme (Kan-do)

-28%Other Crimes

-46%Violent Crimes

* Offending for length of engagement prior to signing up to CIRV vs offending after signing up

The CIRV P.E.E.R. Programme

Designed and delivered in partnership with Kan-do Sports, CIRV’s 10-week P.E.E.R (Pre-Employment EducationRe-engagement) programme is targeted at those CIRV clients aged 16 and under who have been identified by CIRVin partnership with school senior management teams as being at a high risk of becoming active violent gang membersin their later years. P.E.E.R. is delivered to those who have disengaged from school and who fall within the MCMC(More Choices, More Chances) group. The modules are specifically designed to build self-esteem and confidence.

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CIRV Self Referral Sessions -

473 attendees (broken down per session opposite):

Total number of CIRV clients to date:

398

Session/ Date Invited Attended %

Session 124 October 2008 134 41 31%Session 2

24 October 2008 (Under 16s) 122 78 68%Session3

20 February 2009 79 22 28%Session 4

18 June 2009 80 42 53%Session 5

2 October 2009 81 36 44%Session 6

27 November 2009 (Under 16s) 68 53 78%Session7

19 March 2010 (Under 16s) 78 61 78%Session 8

21 May 2010 77 41 53%Session 9

4 February 2011 66 45 68%Session 10

25 February 2011 88 74 84%(Under 16s)

Referrals to Programmes and General Performance Management Data:

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Referrals to

programmes

Programme Numbers referred

CIRV four week Tackling Gang 127 (across 14 courses)Violence Programme(as delivered by Kan-do Sports) (note:- a further 80 CIRV clients are due to attend this programme during the summer of 2011)

CIRV four week Employability 69 (across 10 courses) Programme (as delivered by The Bambury)

CIRV East End Football League & 353 attendees across Workshop Programme- Season 1 61 training nights and (as delivered by Sidekix) 30 match nights

Sidekix Football League & 323 attendees across Workshop Programme- Season 2 140 training nights and (delivered by Sidekix) 40 match nights (note:- Season 3 is currently ongoing)

Mindstore Self Development 128

Operation Youth Advantage 16

Army- Look at Life and Outward Bound Programme 12

Includem Intensive Support 23

Gie It A R.E.S.T. 14

P.E.E.R. Programme 17

C.E.L.T.S. Programme 202

Get A G.R.I.P. 16

Impact Youth 12

Other 33

The CIRV East End Football League, as managed by Sidekix Ltd, has beendelivered across two seasons. It has operated in the east end of Glasgow attraditional peak times of gang violence and is attended by rival gangs whocompete against one another in organised matches and training nights. The league:

• Engages with gang members within their own area

• Offers a diversionary activity on Friday nights (the peak time for street gang violence), along with midweek training nights

• Acts as a referral route to other CIRV support agencies.

The league has offered a safe environment to those gangs who havepreviously engaged in violence against one another to compete in aprofessionally organised, competitive sporting activity. It provides top qualityfacilities, professional coaches, an organised league structure, professionalreferees, quality kit and equipment and an on-line results service. It engageswith each team twice per week, i.e. one mid-week training session and Fridaymatch nights. Training nights have included conflict resolution workshops.

CIRV East EndFootballLeague

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This programme was designed in partnership with Glasgow Life to helpunder-16s increase motivation, improve attitudes and attendance, raise self-esteem, enable achievement and reduce the risk of getting involved inantisocial behaviour through a combination of sports activities and workshops.

The workshops offer personal development and life skills training. The coursesare designed to build self-esteem and confidence and motivate young peopleto think positively about the opportunities in their lives, particularly in relationto lifestyle choices, health and antisocial behaviour.

Impact Youth

(in partnershipwith

Glasgow Life)

Referred to employment-based personal development programmes 176

Routed to: Full Time Employment 12Modern Apprenticeship 11

Future Jobs Fund Temporary Employment 35Further Education College 14

Get Ready For Work Programme 48Lifeskills 11

Training other 18

Partnership Training (as delivered by Leap Confronting Conflict):

Course Number of partners trained‘Playing With Fire’- 5 days 30

‘Working with Gangs’- 2 days 42‘Conflict Practitioner Training’- 3 days 23

CIRV Mentor Training- 5 days 21

CIRV clients routed into employment and training.

35 18 14 1112 1148

Get Ready For Work Proramme

Future Jobs Fu

nd Tem

porary Employm

ent

Taining (Other)

Further Education College

Full Tim

e Employm

ent

Modern Apprenticeship

Lifeskills

CIRV clients rou

ted into employm

ent an

d training

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Case Studies(anonymised):

Robert

Robert, 19, signed up to CIRV inJanuary 2009. At that time he was anactive gang member, had accumulatedthree previous convictions and had 11 cases outstanding for offencesrelated to violence, disorder andweapons carrying.

Robert was part of a hard to reachgang and he did not have a history ofactive engagement with supportservices or local youth organisations.Given this profile, CIRV activelyengaged with the group as a whole,resulting in Robert participating inCIRV personal development andemployability programmes and gaininga work experience placement.

Following initial success, Robert’sbehaviour began to deteriorate andhe went through a period of re-offending resulting in a short termprison sentence.

CIRV identified the need for anintensive support programme andre-engaged him. He received intensivementoring support, his behaviourstabilised and he is now engaging withemployability services. His violentoffending has also reduced dramatically.

Police intelligence indicated an increasing number of violent offences whichcentred on a group of youths in the Sighthill area, including typical gang typebehaviour, violence, racism and antisocial behaviour. The local communityalso expressed concern to CIRV regarding the group’s behaviour. An interventionplan was established by CIRV to de-escalate the situation, including a specificprogramme designed to provide a range of opportunities for the group toaddress their offending behaviour, work on their individual social and personaldevelopment and motivate themselves to realise their potential.

With the support of CIRV partners, including Glasgow Life, GlasgowCommunity Planning Partnership, Glasgow City Council and Kan-do Sports, a 10 week engagement programme consisting of two evening sessions perweek, lasting for three or four hours, was put in place in March 2011.A follow-on programme aimed at employability training, education courses and support into volunteer work followed the 10 week course.

CSI (CIRVSighthillInitiative)

19


Steven

Steven, 21, was serving a two yearsentence at Polmont Young OffendersInstitute for serious assault with aknife when he was referred to CIRVby his prison officer. He was a gangmember and had previous convictionsfor gang fighting and possession of anoffensive weapon. Steven wanted toget out of the gang but feared that hewould be drawn back in on hisrelease from prison.

Steven had issues with alcohol anddrugs and was referred for addictioncounselling as well as being allocateda dedicated CIRV mentor.

Since his release from prison and hisinvolvement with CIRV, Steven’s lifehas become very stable and he haslinked in well with his addictionworker. He has broken links with hisgang and has not offended for over 10 months.

Steven participated in a number ofpersonal development programmesand completed a work placementthrough a CIRV referral with a partneragency, successfully securing fulltime employment through the FutureJobs Fund programme. This is likelyto lead to a permanent job.

In April 2010 the father of two members of a Glasgow gang was murdered as a result of an ongoing feud between current and ex-members of that gang.

In response, CIRV staff created an action plan whereby they engaged seven of those most actively involved. In May 2010, the group voluntarily took part in a one week initial assessment programme (in partnership with Kan-doSports) which found them to be a particularly strong, dominant andintimidating group. They did, however, attend a self referral session atGlasgow Sheriff Court and were referred to CIRV’s Tackling Gang ViolenceProgramme over the summer of 2010.

Unfortunately, due to continued violent and gang related offending, all but one member of this gang were then disengaged from CIRV.

In November 2010, two men were found guilty of the aforementioned murder.As a result, there was an increase in tension within the local area. Officersfrom CIRV conducted further dialogue with the gang due to an assessed highrisk of further violence in the community. The original seven gang memberswere re-engaged, four others were engaged for the first time. Of these 11, ninecommenced a new four week Tackling Gang Violence Programme in January2011, while one was remanded in custody for a further violent offence prior tothe programme commencing. One member was successful in securing a localFuture Jobs placement.

In total, six of the gang members successfully completed the programme.During the engagement process and programme delivery none who completedthe programme were involved in any violence or disorder related offences.They were referred to training sessions with a local regeneration agencywhich will signpost them into further training and employability courses.

NorthGlasgowHomicideResponse

20


Colin

Colin, 19, signed up to CIRV inOctober 2008. He was a gang memberand serving a community serviceorder for assault.

Colin had issues with angermanagement and would frequentlyrespond to conflict using violence. Hereceived counselling to deal with hisanger issues resulting in animprovement in his behaviour.Colin participated in football as a

diversionary activity as well ascompleting a personal development programme leading on to anemployability programme whichultimately led to employment throughthe Future Jobs Fund.

Colin has recently expressed aninterest in becoming a volunteermentor for other young people andtraining has been offered to enablehim to fulfil his wish.

Youth WorldCup of

Friendship(YWCF)

South Africa(in partnership

with the Church of Scotland

Priority AreasCommittee )

Nine young men, three of them CIRV clients (aged 16 – 21), accompanied bythree youth leaders, took part in the Youth World Cup of Friendship which washeld in South Africa in May 2010.

The initiative brought together almost 40 young men from Scotland, Germanyand South Africa who had demonstrated potential to be positive communityleaders and role models for their communities.

Leading youth leadership trainers in South Africa ensured they were immersedin a leadership and team development programme. This developed life skillswhich were put to a practical use when participants spent time leading youthand community activities in Lavender Hill (a township on the outskirts ofCape Town). There were also additional excursions and visits around the CapePeninsula in what became, for many, a life changing experience.

21


John

Fifteen-year-old John was referred toCIRV in April 2010 by his schoolcampus officer. He was an activegang member who had accumulatedeight charges for assault, vandalism,gang fighting, possession of weaponsand drugs.

His mother has substantial addictionissues which contributed to a lack ofparental control and guidance.John was allocated intensive

mentoring support and participated ina school based personal developmentprogramme run by CIRV as well asadditional development programmesrun by CIRV partners.

He now attends football sessions runby Sidekix and has expressed aninterest in sports coaching as acareer. To this end he commenced asports coaching programme at collegein January 2011.

During 2010, intensive engagement was carried out with a specific gang(aged 11 – 16 years) who were recognised by the Community Police Officer asan emerging and challenging risk in the Parkhead area. Crime analysis alsoshowed them to be involved in incidents which were increasing both infrequency and severity. An intervention plan was therefore established inorder to de-escalate the situation.

The gang agreed to engage with CIRV and, as a result, a dedicated 10 weekprogramme of active learning opportunities in a safe and secure environmentwas established.

An initial Outdoor Challenge Programme of canoeing, abseiling, night cycling,hill walking, archery and indoor climbing motivated the young people tosucceed and realise their development and potential, along with an ActiveLearning approach which involved challenging indoor and outdoor activities,team building and workshops based around gang violence, racism andantisocial behaviour.

Social and personal development activities provided the opportunity for themto develop an understanding of the need to maintain positive relationshipswith people and raise their awareness of how thoughts, feelings, attitudes,values and beliefs can influence decisions about relationships. They were alsoled through strategies to assess and manage risk and understand the impactof risk-taking behaviour. Some of the group were further referred for intensivesupport by Includem.

Violent behaviour has to date been practically eliminated within this group.

ParkheadArea Early

Intervention

22


Kevin

Kevin, 16, signed up to CIRV inOctober 2009. He was an active gangmember and had accumulated ninecharges for assault, gang fighting,possession of weapons and policeassault. He participated in personaldevelopment programmes run byCIRV and partner agencies. Duringthis time he also became a father.

Kevin was supported intoemployment training and hascommenced a modern apprenticeshipprogramme. He has not committedany further offences since he signedup to CIRV.

Designed and delivered in partnership with Rangers FC and targeted at schoolage gang members, this 10 day course is delivered within the Rangers StudySupport Centre. The course is delivered across 16 sessions, eight of whichconsist of conflict resolution workshops, while the other eight weeks buildtowards the Level 1 Award in Sports Leadership, a nationally recognisedqualification that enables successful candidates to lead small groups insimple sport and recreational activities whilst under the direct supervision oftheir tutor.

The qualification teaches generic leadership skills such as organisation,planning, communication and teamwork through the medium of sport. It is afun and practical qualification with no entrance requirements orfinal examinations to sit.

C.E.L.T.S. was developed in partnership with Celtic FC and east end schoolsto support those in or on the periphery of gangs in their transition phase fromprimary to secondary school. The workshops focus on territorialism, selfesteem and self confidence as part of a programme which engages themthrough sport. Originally involving all feeder primary schools to St AndrewsSecondary RC School, it includes curricular based football coaching sessions,as delivered by a Celtic FC Community/Academy coach. Throughout thisperiod participants receive information on key social issues such as diet andnutrition, smoking, alcohol, drug misuse and territorialism/racism/ sectarianism,as well as raising their levels of physical activity through football.

‘Gie It A R.E.S.T.’

(in partnership withRangers Football

Club)

CommunityEducation

Link to SportProgramme(C.E.L.T.S.)

(in partnership withCeltic Football Club)

23

A number of funding options arecurrently being progressed. Formalpartnership agreements and servicelevel agreements with definedarrangements between partners andservice providers are beingestablished, as is a fully staffedmulti-agency co-ordinating team,structured as shown below (Figure 1).

A number of partners, commercial,charitable and voluntary, havegrouped together to form the CIRVAcademy, an informal and innovativecollective provider of core programmesand services which any future partneris encouraged to join where they havethe means and capacity to do so (see Figure 2 below).

Participatory Budgeting (in partnership with Faith in Community Scotland)

5. What Next?

Participatory budgeting directly involves local people in making decisions on the spending and priorities for a defined budget.

The Transformation Team, part of Faith in Community Scotland, works alongside local faith communities to make adifference in the poorest communities in Glasgow. CIRV has entered into a partnership with this organisation tocarry out participatory budgeting projects in those areas with the most serious long term issues of street gangviolence in Glasgow. In February 2011 the first such event was held in the Camlachie area of the city, where CIRVhas been particularly active and successful in positively engaging with street gang members. Funding, as sourcedvia CIRV and Faith in Community Scotland, was allocated to a number of local projects as decided by members ofthe community themselves. This new and innovative method of community participation in the allocation of budgetswill now be extended to other parts of the city.

The two year ‘proof of concept’ stage of CIRV has now formallyconcluded, however the service continues in the east and north ofthe city with considerable partnership support. Several projects andprogrammes are ready to be delivered across 2011. The challengenow is to embed CIRV on a mainstream basis across the city, assupported by community planning partners and deliveredlong-term in order to effectively remove Glasgow’s tradition ofstreet gang violence, one which stretches back decades.

years will be published in due course,key outcomes of which are shownbelow (see Figure 4). AmendedInformation Sharing Protocols and aseries of standard operatingprocedures (the CIRV Toolkit) arealready in place to support citywideroll-out. These, together with ongoingpublication of CIRV Practice Notes,will not only be used to informdelivery in Glasgow, but will beshared nationally with those manytowns and cities across the UK whohave already expressed considerableinterest in developing similarinterventions. St Andrews University,meanwhile, will continue to coordinatethe independent evaluation of CIRV,publishing their findings at regularintervals from 2011 onwards.

A new strategic oversight group willalso be formed. CIRV was initiallyintroduced to the city andco-ordinated by the national ViolenceReduction Unit, however this wasonly ever planned to be the case forthe initial two year period. As such,while the CIRV philosophy is verymuch one of partnership andcommunity intervention andleadership, with effect from April 2011the multi-agency Co-ordinating Teamhas been hosted by Strathclyde Policeand included within the Forcestructure as shown below (Figure 3).This allows CIRV to be better placedwithin the community planningstructure and be a key part of thecity’s Early Effective Intervention andYouth strategies. A strategic plan for the next three

24

Figure 1: Proposed CIRV Co-ordinating Team Structure

Operations Manager

Deputy Operations Manager

Case Manager (North, East and Central Localities)

Case Manager (South and West Localities)

Admin Support

Community Engagement Officer

Social Services support (North)

Social Services support (East)

Social Services support (South)

Social Services support (West and Central)

Early Intervention and Education Officer

Police Area Team Lead- (North, East and Central)

Police Area Team Lead- (South and West)

Police ‘B’ Division Area Team(North and East)

Police ‘G’ Division Area Team(South)

Police ‘A’ Division Area Team(West and Central)

Strathclyde Police

Strathclyde Police

tbc

tbc

Strathclyde Police

Strathclyde Police

Glasgow City Council Social Work Services

Aberlour Trust

Glasgow City CouncilEducation Services

Strategic Direction, Policy Setting, Future Planning and Budgetary Control. Reports to Deputy Head ofSafer Communities- Strathclyde Police.

Responsibility for Case Management process, chair all Case Conferences, recruitment, supervisionand training of CIRV mentors. Reports to DeputyOperations Manager

Administrative support to case management andtasking / co-ordinating functions. General officemanagement. Reports to Case Manager.

Assist Area Team lead in street-level engagement of target clients, establish working relationships with community groups and promote moral voice of communities against violence. Report to Deputy Operation Manager

Provide all appropriate client links to social services,ensure appropriate information collated with socialenquiry reports where necessary, participate in allcase conferences and deputise for Case Managerwhere necessary and provide appropriate policyguidance to Operational Management. Report to Deputy Operations Manager.

Establish links with all schools in target area, develop specific intervention and diversionprogrammes for under-16s and promote CIRVcommitment to EEI, GIRFEC and Curriculum forExcellence. Report to Deputy Operations Manager

Lead on all client engagement activity and participatein enforcement operations with Gangs Taskforce, liaise with CIRV partners and ensure active CIRVinvolvement in Divisional Tasking and Co-ordinatingprocess. Report to Deputy Operations Manager

Client engagement and enforcement, liaise with CIRVpartners, participate in Divisional Tasking andCo-ordinating process, raise awareness of CIRVwith local police management and community policeofficers. Report to relevant Police Area Team Lead

Personnel, Oversight of all Engagement, Enforcement,Case Management and EEI functions. Reports to CIRV Operations Manager

25

Figure 2: Relationship, Roles and Responsibilities - CIRV Co-ordinating Team and the CIRV Academy

Personal Development Programmes

Employablility Programmes

Diversion Activity e.g. football league

Street Level Gang Engagement

Street Level Intervention

Mentoring Support and Training

Practitioner Training

Early Intervention School Programmes

1 to 1 Counselling / Anger Management

Parental Support Services

Moral Voice of the Community Programmes

Employment Support Services

CIRV Co - ordinating Team

PoliceSocial WorkEducationHousingCommunity Safety Services

FunctionIntelligence / AnalysisClient Identification / EngagementCase ManagementEnforcementEvaluationPerformance ManagementStrategy and Policy Direction to CIRV Academy

CIRV Academy: Range of Sevices

Client Referral as based on formal Service Level Agreement / Contract

26

Figure 3: Location of CIRV within the Strathclyde Police Structure

Strathclyde Police Safer Communities Department:Head - Chief Superintendent Ruaraidh Nicolson

Licensing, Prevention &Community Relations:Head - SuperintendentDerek Robertson

Crime Prevention/Intervention/ Youth EEI/GIRFEC/CIRV: Head - SuperintendentGrant Manders

CIRV: Head - Chief InspectorRobert Stevenson

Social Crime Prevention

Physical CrimePrevention

Addictions

Interventions

Licensing

Diversity/ Community Relations

Domestic Violence

Licensing, Prevention &Community Relations:Head - SuperintendentDerek Robertson

Criminal Justice Support

ICRS

e3:20:1

Warrants

Criminal Justice Process

Custody Co-ordinationLifetime Mgt

Custody Mgt & Development

Property Improvement & Development

National Custody

Medical Provision & Efficiencies

Casualty Surgeons

Criminal Justice:Head - SuperintendentCiorstan Shearer

Prisoner Management:Head - SuperintendentStephen McGrath

27

Figure 4: CIRV Future Outcomes: 2011-2014

Outcome 3:Increase mutual acceptance of one another by rival street gang members and improveinteraction between them

Outcome 4:Decrease levels of health risk behaviours suchas smoking, drug use and alcoholconsumption, while increasing health andgeneral well-being

Outcome 1: Re-integrate violent street gang members into society by progressing them towardsemployment, training, education or volunteering

Outcome 2:Reduce levels of violent re-offending amongstreet gangs

The CIRV Strategic Plan 2011-2014 will be published during the summer of 2011.

28

Introduction

Appendices:1. A Public HealthApproach to the

Evaluation of the GlasgowCommunity Initiative to

Reduce Violence

One particular aspect of the provision ofprogrammes and services is mentoring,whereby those clients most at need areallocated a mentor who has the followingbrief:

• Making a connection, starting to build trust and credibility

• Assisting the young person in the process of identifying goals

• Monitoring and evaluatingprogress towards their goals

• Celebrating achievements/man-

aging endings to provide support

At the time of the project, CIRV had 34available mentors (with equal numbers of males and females), 14 of whom haveclients allocated to them. Of theapproximately 380 young people whowere engaged with CIRV at the time, 33 in Glasgow’s east end and 21 in thenorth of the city had had a mentor.

The mentors were recruited from acrossthe private, public and voluntary sectors,including full-time key workers, peermentors (ex-offenders employed by CIRV)as well as individuals recruited frompartner agencies (Glasgow HousingAssociation or Glasgow Community andSafety Services).

As a means of evaluating the mentoringservice to ensure it is most effectivelymeeting the needs of the client group, theproject studied the perceptions,experiences and any recommendations ofa sample of nine mentors (two key workers,three peer mentors and four agencymentors) and eight clients. A series of semi-structured interviews were undertaken, withclients also completing a questionnaire. All interviews were transcribed.

Youth, gang-related violence is along-standing problem in Glasgow. In an attempt to address this problem the national Violence Reduction Unitimplemented the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV) in 2008. This £5 million multi-agency,community-centred initiative bringstogether health, education, social work,criminal justice, housing, employment,and community and safety services in anovel, enlightened, collaborativepartnership. CIRV operates a threepronged approach to the prevention offuture violence: enforcement by thecriminal justice system, the provision ofprogrammes and services to enable theyouths to leave their violent lifestyle,and the moral voice of the communitydelivering the message that “the violence must stop”.

Summary: The Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV)was developed to address the long-standing problem ofyouth-related gang violence in Glasgow through a multi-agency,community- centred approach. A fundamental aspect of theinitiative is the allocation of a mentor to those clients most in needof support. The current project involves a study of the perceptions,experiences and recommendations of mentors and clients through aseries of semi- structured interviews and questionnaires. Analysis ofthe transcripts identified 13 themes, including: motivation to be amentor, background and training role of mentors, role of peermentors, disciplinary strategies, disclosure of personal information,time spent with clients, qualities of a mentor, impact of mentors,approaches to mentoring, dealing with client set-backs, gender ofmentors and time to allocation. While there was general agreementby those represented in the study that mentoring is an importantaspect of CIRV, there are a number of areas that could be furtherrefined. In particular,it was noted that there should be greaterclarity around the role of the mentors, and the provision of guidanceand support through mentor meetings would enable the sharing ofbest practice.

Laura A. Burns,

Undergraduate Medical student

University of St Andrews.

E-mail: [email protected]

Damien J. Williams,

Research Fellow in Public Health Science,



Peter D. Donnelly,

Professor of Public Health Medicine,



29

Motivation to become a mentorThe motivation to become a mentor wasdriven largely by having grown-up inGlasgow. Peer mentors were also motivatedby a desire to “give something back”.“I was part of it myself when I was a kid,

and I totally understand some of theseyoung boys…I think it makes a realdifference to know that someoneunderstands you and is out there to try andhelp you”.Mentors recruited from partner agencieswere introduced to CIRV through theirsuperiors and considered it an add-on totheir existing job dealing with antisocialbehaviour. This kind of recruitment washighlighted as warranting furtherconsideration.“I think you have to want to do it…if

you’re told to do it, you’ve probably gotabsolutely zero interest in doing it to thebest of your ability”.Background and TrainingThe majority of mentors had a professionalbackground dealing with young peopleand antisocial behaviour, and many felt itwas a “natural progression”. The generalfeeling was that mentors relied more ontheir past experience, skills and training toperform their role, as opposed to trainingprovided by CIRV. However, most mentorshad completed a conflict resolution course,and on the whole, it was felt to bebeneficial:“We need to deal with some ofthese conflict issues with this youngperson before we can move on”. However,some expressed a wish for training focusedmore specifically on mentoring: “Basically,the stuff that I found irrelevant was thestuff to do with gangs and gang cultures. Ifind that irrelevant to a young person who’sembarrassed by that, and they’re justcrying out for help all the time”.It may be beneficial to provide follow-uptraining and meetings for mentors, toallow for communication, group learningand sharing of experiences.

Major findings to dateAnalysis of the transcripts

identified 13 themes, each of whichwill be briefly described in turn.

Those clients who had a peer mentor gavevery favourable reviews, and seemed tohave had a good experience and trustingrelationship. Interestingly though, therewas no preference amongst the boys for apeer mentor; a few felt they wouldrespond better to somebody older and fewfelt it was very important that theirmentor had similar life experiences tothem. What was clear was that the boysneeded their mentor to be open-mindedand understanding of their problems.Disciplinary strategyThe views on discipline, particularly theuse of the “two strikes and you’re out”approach, were very polarised. Somementors believed in a “firm hand” and feltthat after 2/3 failures to comply, “whatmore can you do?”. These mentors wereconcerned that respect in the relationshipwould be undermined if they continued tomake allowances, and felt it ill-advised tocondone that kind of behaviour:“Disrespect from the start is no way tobegin. They’ve got to learn the lesson thatyou can’t muck people about and stillexpect to have all the opportunities”.Others noted that given the nature of theclients, their lifestyle and circumstances,and distrust of the “system”, there wouldinevitably be “set-backs and mistakes”and “genuine stumbling blocks”, andthese mentors felt it was crucial to “goback again and again and again”. Thesementors strongly believed that it was a“certain type of person that can do thismentoring role”, and that those “so farremoved from the backgrounds that theseguys are coming from”, or who have “lowtolerance”, would have significantdifficulties engaging with clients. Thesementors felt that real behavioural changecould come only from a trustingrelationship.“You’ve got to just keep chipping away…you might get told where to go one time,but you just go back up just kind ofchipping away at it, till eventually you’vegained their trust and you’ve got therelationship there.”Further guidance on the preferredapproach should be offered to the mentorsto ensure that every client has similarexperiences and opportunities.

Role of mentors Some mentors, particularly those recruitedfrom external agencies, were unclearabout their role. Some felt it was their rolewas “to get him a job”, while others felttheir main focus should be addressing theclient's personal problems, as “only whenyou’ve worked through the problems canyou move forward”. One suggestion wasthat mentors should attend the CIRVself-referral session as a means of fullyexplaining the context of the project andsignificance of the role: “It made everythingcrystal clear about what I was doing”.In the future, the initial briefing shouldmore clearly describe the role andattendance at the self-referral sessionshould be encouraged.From the perspective of the CIRV clients,the role of their mentor seemed to changeafter the initial meeting. Some of the boyshad initially been apprehensive andunsure of what to expect, and somesimply disillusioned and cynical beforemeeting their mentor.“I thought it was somebody just trying totell you what to do and all that, but it’sjust like somebody else to talk to”.The role of peer mentorsThe effectiveness of peer mentors seemedto divide opinion. Those dismissive of theidea explained that in their opinion“nobody near they boys’ peer group wouldwork the same,” and emphasised theimportance of life experience and lifeskills. Some were also concerned about an“alpha male” situation arising and othersabout the peer mentor’s own personalproblems and lack of confidence affectingtheir job. However, some were strongly infavour of peer mentors, highlighting thebenefits for the clients and for the peermentors themselves: “It’s going to allowhim to hopefully develop himself, and Ithink he has the potential to go and do it,and he has a lot to offer. He gets alongwith these young boys because he hasbeen there, he does know it, he knows thebad side of it”.Peer mentors felt they had a lot to offerwith their unique perspective: “I think it’sbeing able to relate to them at their level.Because when anybody ever tried to helpme, I never really connected with them,because I thought, they don’t understand,they don’t know”.

30

Disclosure of personal information.Another issue that divided the opinions ofsome mentors was the disclosure ofpersonal information to their clients. Somechose to refer to their background using“anecdotes” in order to help the client feelthey can relate to them and understandwhat they are going through. Others feltstrongly about not sharing their ownpersonal life with clients: “something I tryto keep as far away as possible from themin all honesty”. Concern was alsoexpressed that clients could “use it as aweapon”, especially if the mentor became“too emotionally involved”.Overall, the mentors recognised that theyhad control over what information wasshared and that they should share as muchas they felt comfortable with “within termsof security”. However, group meetings ortraining could help inform mentors’perspectives on when, how and how muchto share and situations in which it mightbe beneficial or detrimental to therelationship.Time spent with clientsAn issue that most mentors felt stronglyabout was the amount of time given totheir client and to their mentoring role.Agency mentors were concerned that thedemands of their job did not leave enoughtime to spend with their client, which theyacknowledged was necessary to build astrong relationship. One agency mentoralso commented that he felt guidance was“a bit cloudy” in terms of “how many timesyou’re expected to see them and how faryou go with them”.With regards to timecommitments, other individuals felt quitestrongly that “I don’t think anybody shouldbe involved in it at all if they can’tcommit…if a boy phoned up today andsaid I need to speak to you, I could go outthis afternoon. For others, they’d have tosay sorry, I’m on duty, this that and thenext thing, and it could be a week beforethey get to see somebody…”Qualities of mentorsHaving a mentor that was easy to talk towas mentioned frequently by clients as animportant quality: “as if you were talkingto a pal” and “see a bit from your pointof view”.Although “telling us what to do” wasrarely appreciated, being able to give goodadvice and guidance was valued.

Approaches to mentoringEvery mentor felt that it was important tohelp clients set personal goals andreinforce positive behaviour. One mentorremarked that people are “always quick totell kids off when they do somethingwrong”, and therefore he always makesan effort to “put a lot of emphasis onrecognizing even the tiniest step in theright direction and affirming them for it”.Many mentors also highlighted theimportance of interacting with theirclient’s family in building a successfulmentoring relationship. It was noted thatthis enabled a better understanding of theclient:“piecing together the jigsaw puzzle”of the client’s life. The issue of workingwith a client’s family is one that could becovered in mentor training or meetings, inorder to discuss possible benefits.Dealing with client set-backsA major challenge mentioned by most ofthe mentors was dealing with thingsgoing wrong for their client:“Any time oneof the boys mess up and maybe get caughtwith knives, that always sets me back”.Mentors’ experiences of when a clientfailed to engage, missed an opportunity, or“fell off the path”, sometimes causedconsiderable upset, frustration and distress.Some mentors felt they had become“cynical” over time. The introduction ofmentor (support) meetings could help tominimise these concerns and provideincreased guidance and support to helpdeal with such challenges.Gender of mentorsThe issue of gender and its impact onmentoring was raised. A male mentorexplained that his client had beenallocated to him, as opposed to a female onhis team, because the particular offencehad been of a sexual nature. This idea ofmatching on the basis of gender was alsomentioned by a mentor in terms ofproviding a “male role model”. One femalekey worker recalled a gender-related issue;during group work; one boy’s behaviourwas “really quite defensive” whenever sheengaged with him in any way. Sheobserved, however, that he seemed “morechatty, more open” with a male colleague,and the case was taken over by the malementor. In general, however, clients did nothave a preference with regards the genderof a mentor.

Listening and not judging, as well asbeing reliable and easy going, were alsoqualities named by some clients as beingimportant. These qualities were alsohighlighted by the mentors, despite somementors reporting observing othersadopting an overly official/formal approach.A few of the mentors talk about workingvery hard on first impressions, and gettingthe tone right: “young people can be veryjudgmental…They’ve had a lot of badexperiences as well and they can see youas the ‘system’, the ‘institution’”.It is, however, a “judgement call”, asalthough most of the boys respond well tothe mentor “sounding like one of theboys”, it is acknowledged that thatapproach “will not match everybody”.Thus, further guidance on the issue ofwhether the mentor should act as a figureof authority or an advocate would avoidconflict in role perception, which has beenidentified as a contributory factor in thesuccess of mentoring programmes.Impact of mentorsMost of the clients reported that thementors helped with their behaviour andattitude: “I see everything different now.Instead of thinking stupid things, ken daft things and that, you take a step backand think, what’s the point in doingsomething like that? It doesn’t make anysense anymore.”Mentors also helped with issues aroundemployment, education and alternativehobbies/activities, as well as more generalskills such as time management andorganisation. Moreover, most clients feltthat they could speak to their mentorabout more personal issues. However, onlya few clients felt that their mentor shouldbe/is a positive role model. This isinteresting, as the concept of a role modelis widely considered to be a key elementof mentoring. Additionally, with respect towhether or not their mentor should or doeskeep them out of trouble, there was arange of responses; some felt that mentorsshould, or do have that influence, whilesome boys disagreed and others wereneutral. In general, clients reported apositive experience with their mentor, andmost agreed that having a mentor hadmade a positive impact on their successon the CIRV programme.

31

mentoring service. It will be necessary toensure that this re-vamped servicecontinues to meet the needs of the clientgroup. Thus, the questionnaire developedand refined during the project will providea time-efficient way to evaluate this servicefrom the perspective of the clients as partof the ongoing evaluation strategy.Sources of Further InformationCIRV First Year Report (2009), Violence Reduction UnitCIRV Third Quarter Progress Report (2010),Violence Reduction Unit

Time to allocationA major point raised by mentors was thetime it took to be allocated a client: “quitea gap between name going down as amentor and getting a referral” with somementors confessing that they “can’t quiteremember what was said about the remit”.A similar issue arose with regard to thetime from a client engaging with CIRV andbeing allocated a mentor, which “couldtake many months - “quite a wait, butworth it in the end”.

2. Wellcome TrustVacation ScholarshipEnd of project report

Background: Gang violence is an important public health issue inGlasgow’s east end and has a considerable impact on the healthand well-being of both those involved and the wider community.The problem of youth gang violence is complex and few Britishstudies have been carried out. In order to encourage young gangmembers to change their destructive lifestyle it is necessary toaddress these problems. In an attempt to reduce gang violence inGlasgow, a multi-agency, community-centered initiative based onlaw enforcement and the provision of education, employmentopportunities and a wide spectrum of social services was established,called the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence (CIRV).

ObjectivesThe objective of the study is to explore theimpact of CIRV through the participants’own criteria.MethodsParticipants are self-selected gangmembers from the East End of Glasgowaged 13-26, currently involved in the CIRV project.A mixed method approach was adoptedwherein a mixed questionnaire wasdeveloped that incorporated rating scales(quantitative) as well as open-endedquestions (qualitative), followed byface-to-face semi-structured interview(qualitative).

The interviews were audio taped withpermission and after transcribed in full for analysis.The interviews were carried out with 23participants.

The data generated from thequestionnaires was uploaded to aninternet-based survey softwaresurveymonkey.comand analysed.The responses from theinterviews were analysed using athematic analysis approach.

A sample of 35 gang members wasrecruited. The paper-based, 32-itemquestionnaire consisted of four parts:

1. Gang Background2. First contact with CIRV3. CIRV content4. Impact of CIRV

The second part was a short face-to- facesemi-structured interview, whichcomprised a number of questionsregarding violence, their experiences withCIRV staff and their feelings about what isneeded to reduce gang violence. Emergingthemes were further explored.

One suggestion to establish early contactinvolved the mentor attending the initialengagement house visit along with anengagement officer rather than the currentpractice of two engagement officers,“all mentors should go out with a memberof staff who’s been more involved”.Future WorkThe current study forms part of anon-going evaluation of CIRV. As a result ofsome of the issues identified here, changesmay be made to the delivery of the

Franziska Fettke, Damien J. Williams, Peter D. Donnelly.

Bute Medical School University of St Andrews

32

Results and DiscussionQuestionnaireOut of 35 completed questionnaires, 31were used for analysis.Results showed that 50% of theparticipants have had long-term ganginvolvement for at least five years.14 participants were actively involved in a gang at the time of joining CIRV witheight of them leaving the gang during thecourse of this intervention.The decision to leave the gang was solelybased on the participant as CIRV did notspecifically target gang participation.

Gang members, for the most partdescribed themselves as non-violent andstated that they do not enjoy fightingWhen we asked participants about theindividual activities they have taken up,the football league and the Kan-do coursewere the two they enjoyed most and gotactively involved in. These activitiesoverlap with the ones we observed beingmost useful in reducing violence. Thesewere full time employment, footballtraining and the Kan-do service.

Interview

We asked participants whether they havebeen involved in any fights since joiningCIRV. This was answered by twoparticipants with yes and 24 with no.16 stated that CIRV helped them toreduce their violent behaviour. Howevernine said CIRV did not change theirviolent behaviour. Further questioning isnecessary to identify whether there hasbeen no change in their attitude towardsviolent behaviour or if other factorsreduced their violent behaviour.

2. Job opportunities as a convincing factorThe possibility of employment was theprincipal reason behind joining CIRV.

3. The contradictory role of the policewithin CIRVParticipants expressed very conflictingviews on the role of the police within theintervention. These ranged fromparticipants joining CIRV because of apolice visit to mistrust in the police andstatements that the police should not bepart of programme at all.

The role of the police within theintervention has to be clearly understoodby gang members in order for it not to becounterproductive.

1. Need to understand and utilizegang characteristicsVarious participants did not identifythemselves with the word gang.Recommendations made by participantsinclude the reconsideration of the wordgang in order to maximise involvementof gang members in future initiatives.More suitable definitions such as“troublesome youth groups”(Eurogang Network) could be utilized.The topic of territory is a major issuewhich dramatically affected ourparticipants. CIRV successfullyrecognised and incorporated this issueinto the programme, strategicallymixing participants from different areasin Glasgow to overcome issues ofterritory. Meeting people from otherterritories was very high rated byparticipants.

4. Insecurities emerging during theinterventionAn important issue was theparticipant’s insecurity towards a betterlifestyle and the fear of relapse. This canhave a negative impact on theparticipant’s outcomes.

5. Notable effectsMost participants stated positiveoutcomes as a result of their overallparticipation. These include teamworking skills, realisation of one’s ownpotential, conflict resolution etc.

ConclusionThe results demonstrated that gang members are eager to reintegrate into society and the majority of them joined theinitiative hoping they may find a job and stability in their lives. We identified the strength of this multi-disciplinaryintervention and listed recommendations made by the participants.

Analysis of the interviews drew out five main findings:

thestop

Photographs on cover and pp5, pp9, pp19, pp20, pp21 copyright David Gillanders, www.davidgillanders.com.

For more information on CIRV, please contact the CIRV team on T: 0141 276 7553or email [email protected]

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