GovWire

As part of the Joint NHS England and HMPPS Offender Personality Disorder (OPD) Pathway, the University of Cambridge was commissioned to undertake an evaluation of a structured Shared Reading initiative delivered in the context of Psychologically Informed Planned Environment (PIPE) services in prisons. PIPEs are intervention services offered as part of the OPD Pathway that aim to support transitions and consolidate skills learnt in formal treatment programmes.

The aim of the study was to identify and describe the contribution that Shared Reading makes to the work of PIPEs in prisons and to identify the processes through which change, if any, takes place.

The research took place over 2 phases. The first phase generated qualitative data through fieldwork to create a psychometric questionnaire to look at potential outcomes related to Shared Reading. The second phase used this and other psychometric questionnaires to collect quantitative data across two time points. The key findings of both phases and their implications are presented in the report.

The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by the Ministry of Justice or NHS England (nor do they represent Government policy).

Related links

At the time of release, two additional reports were published on the OPD Pathway.

National Evaluation of the Male OPD Pathway

Evaluation of Psychologically Informed Planned Environments (PIPEs)