Accredited Programmes

A number of intervention programmes, known as accredited programmes, addressing particular types or root causes of offending behaviour are run by staff at Suffolk Probation Area from all of our three offices. These include compulsory courses for sex offenders, drink drivers, and perpetrators of domestic violence, which are aimed at changing offenders’ thinking and behaviour.

If an offender misses a session he or she will have to do a catch-up session. If they continue to miss sessions without a good reason they will be in breach of their community order and will be sent back to court. Some programmes have limits on the number of catch-up sessions, insisting an offender starts the programme again.

Accredited programmes available at Suffolk Probation Area are:

Aggression Replacement Therapy

Aims to address offending relating to anger management issues, excluding racially motivated and domestic incidents. Consists of 19 two-hour sessions, once or twice a week.

Drink Impaired Drivers Programme (DIDP)

Aims to reduce the risk of future drink-related driving offences. Consists of 14 two-hour sessions, usually once a week.

Integrated Domestic Abuse Programme (IDAP)

The aims of this programme are:
- To reduce the risk of violent crime and abusive behaviour towards women in relationships by helping perpetrators change their attitudes and behaviour.
- To reduce the risk of all violent and abusive behaviour in the family.
- To increase the offender's ability to respond non-abusively, to change abusive beliefs and empathise with victim(s).
- To give offenders a greater sense of responsibility for their violence.
- To help offenders accept that they exercise choice in the way they behave.
- To increase the offender's ability to identify high-risk situations and to manage these effectively in the future.
Consists of 27 two-and-a-half hour sessions, once a week.

A Women's Safety Worker from Suffolk Probation Area works with women victims of domestic violence as part of this programme. The Women's Safety Worker helps women victims and any children to access full support, advice and assistance from other relevant organisations, to ensure they are safe. Victims are given regular updates about how the offender is progressing on the programme and asked for feedback about his behaviour at regular intervals, including when the programme is over.

Internet Sexual Offending Treatment Programme (I-SOTP)

Aims to reduce the risk of future internet sexual offending and risk of progression to contact sexual offending. Consists of 35 one-to-one two-hour sessions.

Offender Substance Abuse Programme (OSAP)

Aims to raise awareness of link between drug and alcohol misuse and offending, and to provide offenders wtih the skills to reduce or stop substance misuse, thus reducing offending. Consists of 27 two-and-a-half hour sessions, twice a week.

One to One (1:1)

Aims to enable offenders to develop a range of problem-solving skills in order to change behaviour and the underpinning thought, values and attitudes related to offending. Consists of 20 sessions of between one and one-and-a-half hours, once a week.

Thames Valley - Sex Offender Groupwork Programme (TV-SOGP)

Aims to reduce the risk of future sexual offending by adult male sex offenders. Consists of four blocks: foundation, five days a week for two weeks 9am-5pm; life skills, 20 two-hour sessions; victim empathy, eight two-hour sessions; relapse prevention 22 two-hour sessions.

Think First (TF)

Aims to teach problem-solving skills and apply these skills to offending behaviour, in order to help offenders stop offending. Consists of 23 two-hour sessions, usually twice a week.