In the UK there has been growing concern about the relationship between levels of alcohol
consumption and offending behaviour. The Alcohol Treatment Requirement (ATR) was
introduced to the UK in 2007 and was piloted in a District in the north of England in July 2007.
The ATR is a coercive form of treatment delivered jointly by the probation service and the
National Health Service (NHS) and was funded by the NHS. The ATR centres on supporting
offenders to cease their offending behaviour and reduce or end their alcohol misuse. Two
female alcohol treatment workers have been appointed to specifically deliver the ATR.
Therefore this study aimed to investigate the delivery of the ATR, and more specifically, aimed
to explore what impact the ATR might have in relation to positive behaviour change and
rehabilitation for offenders with alcohol problems.
In order to meet the expectations of producing ¿outcome¿ data for the NHS funders, and indepth
theoretical data worthy of an academic PhD, this research took a pragmatic
methodological approach which enabled different social realities of the ATR to be explored. To
this end, a mixed methods design was employed involving quantitative and qualitative data
collection methods. The data for this research was generated in three phases with Phase One
aiming to explore quantitatively the characteristics, impacts and outcomes of those sentenced
to the ATR. This phase revealed that the ATR is being delivered to predominantly young, male,
alcohol dependent, violent, persistent offenders. This analysis further revealed that the ATR
was effective in bringing about positive treatment outcomes and in reducing reoffending. In
order to explore further how this positive change was occurring, Phase Two consisted of
qualitative participant observations of the treatment interaction involving the female alcohol
treatment workers and the male offenders. By drawing on positioning theory, the analysis
considered the complexity of the gendered interactions that occurred during these encounters.
It was found that the two female alcohol treatment workers resisted positions of ¿feminine
carer¿ offered up by these young men in order to occupy positions of control. Indeed this
analysis provided great insight into the constant flow of negotiations and manoeuvring of
positions that occurred between the alcohol treatment worker and the offender, argued to be
vitally important in working towards positive behaviour change. During Phase Three ten
offenders were interviewed in order to explore through a dialogical lens (Bakhtin, 1982) how
they constructed and experienced treatment on the ATR. In exploring the offenders¿ stories
dialogically, the analysis highlighted how the ATR was enabling, in that it offered a ¿space¿ for
these offenders to engage and internalise a dialogue that draws on the authoritative voice of
therapy. Therefore it was revealed that through dialogue with the ¿other¿, offenders were able
to re-author a more ¿moral¿ and ¿worthy¿ self. Moreover, the ATR has been found to be
successful in enabling the offenders¿ hegemonic masculine identities to be both challenged
and protected as a result of the multilayered interactions that occurred during these
treatment encounters. This research therefore concludes that coercive treatment, rather than
being a concern, should be embraced as a way of enabling change for offenders with alcohol
problems. Furthermore, this research has highlighted the value of the relational aspect of
treatment in bringing about positive behaviour changes. Finally this research has shown that
community sentences offer a more constructive way of engaging with offenders than those
who receive a custodial sentence.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/5401 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Ashby, Joanne L. |
| Contributors | Horrocks, Christine, Kelly, Nancy |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Division of Psychology. |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, PhD |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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