Relationships and Future Fatherhood Programme for Young Incarcerated Men

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Our proposed project seeks to address a range of complex issues that will help young incarcerated men develop positive, healthy relationships, and prepare for future fatherhood. The aim of the Relationships and Future Fatherhood intervention is to work with the young men to provide them with the information and skills they need that will: i) empower them to make healthier sexual and reproductive health decisions; ii) promote positive consensual relationships with partners and future partners; and iii) enable critical reflection upon the roles and responsibilities of fatherhood, and to plan future fatherhood in their lives. It is anticipated this will increase the young men's sense of responsibility and well-being, and motivate them to create and maintain for their children, a more positive childhood, in relation to fathering, than they themselves experienced. This study is built around 3 work packages. In Work package 1: We will use arts-based participatory methods to support and positively engage with young men from 2 prison sites (Northern Ireland & Scotland) over the life of the project. This is so the young men's expertise can also inform the intervention content and delivery. One of the unique characteristics of the programme is that it will include an interactive video drama (IVD - film), which we will make together with the young men and a professional media production company. We will all work together to develop a script and short scenarios for the film, based on what the young incarcerated men tell us in relation to their real life experiences around sex, relationship and parenting. The film will use a 'stop-and-think' strategy. That is, at various points the film will stop and articulate a question or dilemma that invites the user to imagine how they would react, and to make some decisions, if they were in a similar situation (the interactive component). We will also develop lesson plans (worksheets and activities) from the information the young men provide that will aid learning and group discussions as part of the programme. Our participatory approach ensures that the programme reflects real-life issues that resonate with the young men. This may help make the health messages real and help them think for themselves about the importance of relationships and fatherhood.In Work Package 2: We will show the final products (IVD & Lesson Plans) to the young men and to prison and Barnardo's staff (delivery partners) in each site. We will interview them to gain their feedback on the programme to ensure it is fit-for-purpose and suitable to deliver in the two prison sites. The research team, in collaboration with the expert stakeholders group that includes representation from the Prison Services, Departments of Justice & Health, and other advocates for prisoner health and rehabilitation, will further develop the longer term sustainability of the intervention. We will then go back to the young men, prison and Barnardo's staff to check if they are happy with the intervention and assess (against progression rules) that the program is now feasible to progress to a pilot trial. The results of our inquiries will establish if the intervention is relevant, acceptable and implementable in the prison context. In Work Package 3: We will prepare for the next stage evaluation of this programme, by working through details, with trial methodology and prison experts, on how best to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. Together, we will develop a Logic Model and appropriate Research Design to take our intervention forward for effectiveness testing. So, at the end of this study we will have developed an innovative programme for a marginalised group of young men in society which will be ready to test in a feasibility and pilot trial in 2 UK prison sites.