Families disconnected by prison: A scoping study in barriers to community engagement

The focus of this scoping study is a community composed of families separated by prison and their helping agencies. In this study we explored why some families do not connect with the support offered by that community. The study used an information systems design lens, focused on informational support (support through the provision of information) and explored both the content and the form of information communicated to families.
This eight month study engaged with two distinct communities of families separated by prison and used participatory research methods to explore particular barriers to engagement. Work with both communities identified information related to travel and financial support for travel as key and identified inappropriate support services and lack of relevant information as barriers to engaging with specific formal support services. The study concluded that low expectation of improvement in circumstances, not assuming an identity of help-seeker or help-receiver and the need for forms of interaction other than those provided where the key barriers to engagement with the support available.
Outputs from the community engagement are collective narratives in two forms of collage. A longer version of this report and a virtual version of the collage will be available from the end of November at:
http://proboscis.org.uk/4996/hidden-families/