Working with offenders
A further study of the effects of alternative education initiatives
This report is an evaluation of the impact of Alternative Education Initiatives (AEIs) on anti-social behaviour and offending.
Title: A further study of the effects of alternative education initiatives
Author: Sally Kendall, Kay Kinder, Annie Johnson, Charlotte
Fletcher-Morgan, Richard White
Series: Home Office Online Report 07/05
Date published: January 2005
Number of pages: 26
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In April 2000, the Home Office and the then Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) commissioned National Foundation of Educational Research (NFER) to undertake a study evaluating alternative educational provision for young people permanently excluded from school, or who were out of school for other reasons, such as non-attendance.
The aims of AEIs' were to return pupils to mainstream education, educational attainment, post-16 outcomes and reduce anti-social behaviour, including offending. The age of the young people attending the AEIs ranged from Year 7 to Year 11, but for the purposes of the study most were in Years 10 and 11 (14- to16-year-olds).
In September 2001 a follow-up study on 162 young people who attended the AEIs was carried out to explore whether the positive outcomes associated with attending the AEIs were maintained after students left the projects.
Key findings
Half (82 of 162) of AEI students were recorded as offending between 1997 and 2002.
AEIs slowed down the rate of increase in recorded offending during their implementation year. However, the follow-up study showed recorded offending had rose sharply again.
The total number of recorded offences committed by AEI students increased by more than half (from 286 to 431) between the original evaluation year (2000–2001) and the follow-up year (2001–2002), but the number of students committing these offences dropped from 47 to 42.
Persistent offenders (convicted of more than ten offences in a 12-month period) were increasingly responsible for a greater proportion of recorded crimes. By the follow-up year they accounted for 71% of the sample's recorded crimes.
Theft, criminal damage, assault and 'other' offences (including 'going equipped for stealing', 'absconding from custody', and 'failing to surrender to bail') remained the most common offences committed by AEI students between 1999 and 2002. The biggest increase in recorded offences during the follow-up year was for assault and 'other' offences.
The findings show the need for continued input for persistent offenders.
Students in undesirable destinations (low paid employment, sporadic work, frequently with poor health and safety provision and little security of tenure) were more likely to have an offending record (64%) than those in desirable destinations (38%).
The follow-up study suggests that continued post-16 monitoring and support should be an integral component of such programmes.
It is apparent that AEIs generally did not impact on those students who were prolific offenders, as their needs would seem beyond the scope of the projects.
Last update: 04 February 2005