How is a sex offender treatment programme experienced? Deploying mixed methods evaluation through reflective diaries

Facilitators of treatment programmes in prison notice that there are particular weeks where individuals disengage or experience negative wellbeing in response to the topics. There is limited research which has investigated qualitative, narrative, experiences of men convicted of sexual offences on a treatment programme in prison. Further, there is limited existing consideration of evaluating idiographic trajectories of members’ data and narratives in an intervention. Our aim was to examine personal narratives in relation to wellbeing and programme engagement, as expressed in self-reflective diaries to capture the treatment experience over time. Along with psychometric wellbeing data, we statistically and narratively analysed group-level and personalised trajectories in the sample. In both types of analysis, we found that the mental wellbeing of the group improved. Group participation appeared to have implications for the development of a prosocial identity, which is known to be linked to desistance. Through the weekly personal narratives, we saw resistance to group-based sessions and discussions about sex, moving to more positive future- and skills-oriented discourse. Taken together, this paper shows the value of mixed methods within-programme evaluations.