Engagement and disengagement from support offers in focused deterrence: four stages of attrition

• In Event: Another Chance: a realist multi-centred randomised controlled trial of a focused deterrence violence intervention in England

Abstract

Focused deterrence interventions comprise of targeted administration of consequences, offer of tailored support, and community reiteration of moral norms. While the support component of this intervention is voluntary and consent-based, the theory of change asserts that successful delivery requires individuals’ continuous engagement with that offer. This paper will discusses four critical stages at which program participants tend to disengage, as well as some of the reasons behind it.

This paper will draw from interviews conducted with navigators – individuals working closely with program participants to assess their needs, guide and support them on their path to desistance – in five sites involved in Youth Endowment Fund’s Another Chance (2022) project. Data has been analyzed thematically and the preliminary findings indicate that participants’ age, level of criminal involvement, family involvement in crime, as well as wider environmental and/or social pressures can hinder individuals’ program engagement and lead to attrition. Analysis also reveals that what participants and navigators view as the desired goals of participation are often misaligned and that new support provision can disrupt existing system dynamics in a crowded violence prevention space.

Understanding why and at what point focused deterrence programs might be vulnerable to attrition can support future violence prevention and provide more knowledge to the delivery teams when tailoring their approach to program participants to minimize those risks and maximize desistance from violence.

Author

• Tia McPherson, University of Hull