The studio setup during the weekly meeting with the graduates and the InHouse team.
THE CHALLENGE
Supporting InHouse's graduates in their journey toward reintregration in society. Creating a system that could scale the positive but informal impact of InHouse on graduates after their release.
THE SOLUTION
InHarmony is an InHouse's programme that helps graduates in their post prison-rehabilitation and future planning. It creates real relationships instead of treating people like checkboxes.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The best outcome of this project is not only the positive comments from the InHouse's staff but also that we are still friends with them!
DETAILS
Project partner: InHouse records
When: 2019 - 1 month
Team: 4 people
Main tasks: design research (various), stakeholder management,
co-design workshops, visual design.
Context
IN-HOUSE RECORDS
Before you start:
One of the InHouse pillars is being mindful of the vocabulary they use with people they help. They want it to be encouraging and not, in any way, a reminder of mistakes these people have done. That's why since the start I'll use the word graduates to refer to ex-offenders who have completed their InHouse programme while service.
One of the InHouse pillars is being mindful of the vocabulary they use with people they help. They want it to be encouraging and not, in any way, a reminder of mistakes these people have done. That's why since the start I'll use the word graduates to refer to ex-offenders who have completed their InHouse programme while service.
Operating in and out of UK prisons across the South East of England since 2017, InHouse Records is a rehabilitative record label for change. InHouse is an award winning social initiative, with a proven track record of creating positive change for society. InHouse Records reduces the recidivism rate.
This journey started when Judah, Charlotte and Grace, InHouse founder and staff, came to the RCA with Stickz, Ren, Aron (InHouse graduates) and other close collaborators from EY, MoJ and Universal. They asked us to think of ways to support graduates after their release by creating a programme that could be scaled and brought to many more prisons.
Research
CO-CREATION, CO-CREATION & CO-CREATION.
Methods:
- Co-creation workshops
- Co-creation activities (various)
- On-site observation
- Expert interviews
- Site visit
I like to define this project as a journey because it definitely was a human experience before a work one. The very close collaboration we had with the InHouse graduates and staff during the research phase brought us to become friends that are still in touch. This is because we engaged in weekly meetings based on collaboration and co-creation to discover more about them and to imagine together what the new service should have minded.
We used the following tools in a co-creation workshop style of fashion:
Personal evolution discovery. The aim of this tool was understanding more about the graduates' feelings about themselves and how they think society sees them before, during and after their experience in prison (and with InHouse). This was very helpful to understand better their background, the effects the InHouse experience had on them and their aims and hopes for the future. The outcomes of this exercise have been very helpful to develop personas that could be efficient but at the same time avoiding patronisation.
Myth Buster. Society’s stereotypes about ex-offenders are, unfortunately, clear. By asking the graduates to fill a chart with their experiences with people’s assumptions in their regards, we aimed to develop our own knowledge and create a service that could be aware of their feelings and counteract.
Ren after the Myth Buster exercise.
Dream journey mapping. It has been a tool we have used during a co-creation session. The aim was having a better understanding of graduates’ opinion in the regard of a mentorship scheme, its touchpoints and interactions as well as its outcomes.
Co-creation workshop. We organized a workshop with 7 members of the InHouse programme: One of the first insight we’ve got was the almost total lack of trust in the services offered by the government. In the graduates' view, the government is the same actor that let them down during their teenage, punish them for doing bad and them. Also, the government lacks understanding of their situation: probation is quite difficult to contact and, in one of the InHouse graduate's experience, probation officer that takes care of your practice changes once per week! Both prison and probation officers haven’t any kind of personal relation or human contact with them. On the other hand, throughout the InHouse experience, the graduates receive a close, bespoke experience in a motivating environment. This is fundamental to gain their trust and build the will for redemption which is at the basis of the commitment they show while working for InHouse courses.
INSIGTHS
1. Cultivate meaningful relationships
The success of InHouse programme inside prisons lies in the meaningful relationships built between staff and prisoners. Unlike government services, InHouse is able to create a community capable of supporting prisoners in the right way through listening and mutual trust.
2. Music as a vehicle but not as an aim
Music provides the launchpad for building meaningful relationships. Despite it will always play an important role in graduates’ lives in terms of community and passion but for most of them, it is not a professional ambition.
3. Empower partners
Currently, partners are represented by just one single person. Within partnering companies, there would be many people willing to support graduates in their rehabilitation journey outside prison but they do not know how to do that in an effective way.
4. Collaboration rather than mentorship
Both graduates and partners want and need a flexible and trusting relationship without a contract. They need a framework able to codify and replicate a horizontal and organic collaboration
How might we help the graduates transition from their personal development to self-realisation through an independent collaborative relationship with professionals, supported and facilitated by InHouse?
Solution
IN-HARMONY
Methods:
- Role Playing
- Service Blueprint
- Storytelling
InHarmony is a co-creative advocacy programme, delivered by InHouse Records to its graduates. It captures and nurtures their goals and ambitions and supports making them a reality. Unlike traditional mentoring schemes, the programme offers flexible frameworks, tools and support, resulting in the creation and cultivation of an actively engaged community of professional collaborators.
Based on our research insights, we developed principles to support the rationality behind the scaling of InHouse's activities.
1. Commitment No contract but trust
2. Community Graduates are independent but supported by InHouse
3. Communication Organic and fair experience is driven by meaningful relationships
4. Connections Bridge to society and professional network
As mentioned earlier a careful usage of words is fundamental in helping gradautes to leave completely behind the law offence and start a new life. We have taken this in consideration while developing the experience.
Collaborator: They are professionals involved by the core team through partners. They are skilled and empathetic people trained and deemed appropriate by the core team tp bring a positive reinforcement (time + positive energy + belief) to the graduate.
IN-HARMONY'S PHASES
Audition and Rehearsal: This is the very first stage of InHarmony. this is a constant and repeating stage where graduates who aren’t ready for a 1:1 Duet relationship can access and benefit from the collaboration community exchange. This is also where both Graduates and Collaborators prepare for a potential collaboration.
Duet: The central phase in the InHarmony journey as well as the couple created by pairing a graduate and a collaborator. The duet is a horizontal relation based on meetings, activities and connection sharing aiming to reach the graduate’s goal.
Live: The final part of the InHarmony journey. In this phase, the duet meets up less and less often because the goal stated has been somehow reached and the graduate is able to make it without any advice.
Service blueprint before a Duet is formed.
Service blueprint after the Duet formation.