Dr Leona Mydlowski

Under Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) in England and Wales, statutory agencies (police, probation, and prison services) are responsible for assessing and managing the risk of over 70,000 people subject to sexual notification requirements. With the majority (approximately three-quarters) of this population being managed in the community by specialist police professionals, control and containment approaches dominate policy and practice. This is of concern because risk management tactics that adopt restrictive measures in isolation can only achieve short-term goals. However, when combined with desistance-focused strategies, longer-term change is facilitated. Desistance refers to the cessation of criminal behaviour, requiring both cognitive and behavioural change, alongside pro-social and structural support. Positive informal (e.g. family and friends) and formal (e.g. police) relationships are crucial in fostering successful desistance outcomes. But, because desistance is a meta-theory, integrating various psychological, social, and situational theories, its operationalisation is complex. To effectively address sexual reoffending, police professionals must maximise every opportunity to support the desistance process among people with sexual convictions. To this end, we introduce our Desistance Practice Framework, co-developed with police stakeholders and people with sexual convictions. We outline here our consultation process and present the theoretical foundations underpinning our model.

The number of people managed under MAPPA in England and Wales has risen significantly, creating new challenges for police supervising individuals with sexual convictions. Responding to calls for desistance-focused practices, this case study explores a co-produced project designed to support MOSOVO officers in adopting desistance-oriented approaches. Through participatory action research, police officers, people with lived experience, and academics collaborated to create three practical tools: a Desistance Practice Framework, a Desistance Management Plan, and Twelve Principles for Assisting Desistance. These were refined through stakeholder input and aim to help police support individual change, reduce reoffending, and manage growing caseloads more effectively. The principles provide a foundation for embedding desistance into policing, aligning risk management with rehabilitation and human rights.