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Manchester Metropolitan University’s impact on the policy and practice of commissioning offender rehabilitation.

Summary of the impact

MMU's Policy Evaluation and Research Unit (PERU) has developed a distinct model for commissioning more personalised services for the resettlement of offenders. The model is being adopted by and influencing the approach taken by a range of policy-makers and senior practitioners involved in commissioning offender resettlement services or those bidding to deliver such services in the new `Transforming Rehabilitation' framework that has been introduced by the current government. The approach has had particular impact in the development of the Transforming Justice model developed in Greater Manchester where the team is based.

Submitting Institution

Manchester Metropolitan University

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Legal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Criminology, Policy and Administration

Inspecting the Criminal Justice System

Summary of the impact

This case study describes the impact that has arisen from an extended research project carried out by Professor Shute, since 2009, on inspection of the main criminal justice agencies — police, prosecution, courts, prisons and probation — in the United Kingdom. The impact of the research has been at a number of levels: the development by ministers and senior civil servants of high- level strategy concerning criminal justice inspection; the translation of that strategy into inspection policy; and the conversion of inspection policy into inspection practice. Specific changes include: developing a risk-based approach; inspecting the use of the person escort record; and inspecting corruption in prisons.

Submitting Institution

University of Sussex

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Legal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Criminology, Policy and Administration
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Criminal justice reform in Georgia

Summary of the impact

Research conducted by Vogler between 1993 and 2013 on the theoretical principles and practical modalities of global criminal-justice reform led to specific influence on the Georgian Criminal Procedure Code (CPC) 2009, e.g. Arts 170-176 (arrest), 196-208 (pre-trial release), 49-50 (non-compulsion of witnesses) and 219-224, 226, 231-236 (jury trial). This was achieved through sustained and direct influence on the criminal-justice reform process in Georgia 2002-13. In addition, following the enactment of the new CPC, Vogler provided recommendations on implementation, and devised and conducted training for the constitutional court on the new CPC.

Submitting Institution

University of Sussex

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Legal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Criminology
Law and Legal Studies: Law

A New Hybrid Model of the Justice System in Afghanistan

Summary of the impact

The key recommendations of the `hybrid model' of the Justice System in Afghanistan, developed by Dr Wardak, were written into draft Afghanistan law under the title, `The Law on Dispute Resolution, Shuras and Jirgas', by the Ministry of Justice. The ideas derived from Wardak's new model were piloted in different parts of Afghanistan by the United States Institute of Peace, by USAID, TLO and CPAU. Preliminary results of pilot studies, in selected districts in Afghanistan, indicate that the hybrid model provides workable solutions to many of the problems that Afghan state and non-state justice systems currently face.

Submitting Institution

University of South Wales

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Legal

Research Subject Area(s)

Law and Legal Studies: Law

Punishment Violence, Community Restorative Justice and Transformed Police-Community Relations in Northern Ireland

Summary of the impact

The impact here relates to Kieran McEvoy's research on the development of Community Restorative Justice (CRJ) in Northern Ireland. The reach of this impact has been three-fold. First, McEvoy's research was central in persuading the Irish Republican Army (IRA) to change their policy and practice and to ultimately end punishment violence completely. No IRA sanctioned punishment attack has occurred between 2008 and 2013. Second, his research led directly to the establishment and development of ten lawful and non-violent CRJ projects, now staffed largely by former IRA activists which replaced the previous system of paramilitary vigilante justice. Third, McEvoy's research on CRJ has led to a collaborative relationship on the ground between previously estranged Republican communities and the police in Northern Ireland via these CRJI programmes from 2008 to 2013

Submitting Institution

Queen's University Belfast

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Criminology, Sociology
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Helping democracies to deal with past atrocities

Summary of the impact

New democracies face the critical challenge of dealing with past abuses of human rights. Professor Leigh Payne`s empirical research on transitional justice concludes that while no single mechanism successfully achieves the strengthening of democracy, human rights, and peace, combinations of prosecutions and amnesties (with or without `truth commissions') increase the likelihood of improved democracy and human rights measures. These findings have not only shaped the debate over transitional justice; they have played a key role in constructing and endorsing the policy decisions made by a range of political actors: victims` groups, NGOs, INGOs, policymakers, politicians, judges, and prosecutors. They have shaped policy debate, laws, practices, demands, and methodological approaches to transitional justice in Brazil and Colombia; and had a direct and specific impact on policies regarding the violent past in Uruguay.

Submitting Institution

University of Oxford

Unit of Assessment

Sociology

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Conceptualising, Mapping and Responding to Death and Injury at Work

Summary of the impact

This case study documents, maps and conceptualises the incidence of occupational death and injury and state responses to these issues. Tombs' work has achieved impact through its connection with the Centre for Corporate Accountability (CCA) which was operational from 1999- 2009; its utilisation by the Labour movement and campaigning organisations; and its reach to policy-makers at local, regional and national levels. It has generated an alternative understanding of deaths and injuries at work, thus impacting on the policy process concerning these issues. The pathways to impact have been developed through an on-going, long term commitment to disseminating this work beyond academia and to working closely with counter-hegemonic user groups.

Submitting Institution

Liverpool John Moores University

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Criminology
Law and Legal Studies: Law

Sustainability, Biodiversity Conservation and Indigenous Peoples: Community-Owned Solutions to Future Challenges in the Guiana Shield, South America

Summary of the impact

This case study concerns the development, adoption and dissemination of innovative `community-owned' approaches to the sustainable management of social-ecological systems (SES) within the Guiana Shield region of South America. Spanning the countries of Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and areas of Brazil, Venezuela and Colombia, this region is of recognized global significance for carbon storage, fresh water resources and biodiversity. Its indigenous, Amerindian communities have a potentially crucial role to play in sustainable conservation policy and practice. However, local economic and cultural changes, extractive industries, and global dynamics such as climate change are bringing profound challenges to these local communities and their SES. Research at Royal Holloway has responded to these challenges by involving indigenous peoples in both biodiversity science and sustainability policy. The work allows indigenous communities to identify, through participatory research methods, the most effective practices they have for surviving and thriving sustainably.

The impacts of the research are of four main types:

  • The use of research data and approaches in shaping local, national and transnational policy initiatives;
  • The production of `community-owned' solutions to the socio-ecological challenges faced by indigenous communities;
  • Intensive `capacity building' via training of local researchers, the promotion of local `champions' of successful best practices, and the support of autonomous action research by communities;
  • Enhancing public understanding of conservation in the region, especially via primary education.

Submitting Institution

Royal Holloway, University of London

Unit of Assessment

Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Studies In Human Society: Other Studies In Human Society

Participatory Methods and Social Action

Summary of the impact

This case study draws on work undertaken by the Centre for Social Action (CSA) to improve publicly funded services through service-user engagement in both research processes and service delivery. The centre combines applied social research with service and policy evaluation, consultancy, training and information services to the fields of youth work, community development and social and health care. The social action methodology for practice and research undertaken using this participatory approach has had an impact on services and policy internationally (e.g. classroom teaching in the US and the development of social work services in Eastern Europe), nationally (e.g. evaluations of national youth participation projects such as Participation Works and U R Boss for the Howard League) and locally (e.g. work with Leicester City Council). Impacts have been wide ranging, and include methodological innovation, development of training curricula and materials for practitioners, and policy changes which have a profound impact on people's lives.

Submitting Institution

De Montfort University

Unit of Assessment

Social Work and Social Policy

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Enhancing Learner Development by Influencing PDP policy and Changing PDP Practice

Summary of the impact

The research described below has impacted on policy and practice relating to Personal Development Planning (PDP) - the structured and supported process by which learners reflect upon their own development and plan their future development. The impact has primarily been on the UK Higher Education (HE) sector, but has also extended beyond the UK and into other types of organisation (e.g. graduate recruitment networks). More specifically, the research has: shaped the guidance offered to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) on implementing and developing PDP policies and processes for students; enhanced the practice of PDP practitioners; stimulated debate among these practitioners; and informed the development of resources for these practitioners. This has had an overarching positive effect on learner development in educational settings and beyond.

Submitting Institution

University of Worcester

Unit of Assessment

Education

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Education: Curriculum and Pedagogy, Specialist Studies In Education

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