Un consejo didáctico de K arl P opper sobre cómo leer un libro de filosofía

Confidence and self-esteem were introduced as goals of mentoring in the previous chapter by mentors and other staff. Women spoke about how mentoring had helped to increase confidence in relation to their basic needs being met and accessing new services. They related their confidence to being praised and encouraged by their mentor and to changes in their lives, such as benefits being accessed, budget plans being delivered and reduced social isolation:

Alana: Also she got me into Venture Trust20 _{and I went away for 5 days with}

Venture Trust. Like team building, and I got a certificate, cave climbing, abseiling, cooking…. it was good. My confidence was a little bit low then. So it helped with my confidence and I got a certificate at the end of it, so it was really good yeah…Oh yeah, if I do something she'll say ‘you've done great.’ I was going to restoration [recovery support group] and going to one stop shop [for women only] and doing all these different things and she said ‘aw you've got a busy life for yourself’ so aye yeah just giving that support and praising you up when you do good. It gives you a little bit more confidence.

Debbie: But my confidence has improved and that's down to myself, that's down to the organisation and that's down to [my mentor], that's just down to working towards everything and putting everything right again…[my mentor] probably praises me more than what I actually praise myself. She has actually said to me and others in the organisation, you don't give yourself enough credit.

Alana’s quote suggests that keeping busy contributed to increased confidence. It is important that confidence can be sustained even after the mentoring support has ended, and that the woman will be in an environment where she will have the choices and opportunities to gain confidence and skills (Clarke 2004).

It was commonly expressed by women that they appreciated not being dictated to by their mentors, and this may be related to improved self-efficacy which has been associated with desistance (McIvor et al. 2009). This was particularly important for one woman who had learning difficulties. Someone taking the time to teach her how to do certain tasks such as completing forms, (rather than doing tasks for her) led to increased self-efficacy:

Christine: That's why my mentor tends to get me motivated and explains things to me […] To get me interested, because if someone is doing

20 _{Venture Trust is a third sector organisation that offers outdoor personal development courses for}

something for me all the time then I don't bother wanting to know because it's getting done for me so my mentor teaches me as well as doing stuff for me […] She helps me cope a lot lot better than I did years ago.

Confidence and self-esteem were also viewed to be significant outcomes by mentors. A mentor here suggests that staying out of prison is due to the skills and confidence of the woman rather than circumstances:

M4: Yeah sometimes we maybe keep girls out of prison for six months and then the 7th month they get a remand or whatever but you've kept them out of prison for six months and you've given them the confidence and skills so that when they come back out after their 7th month, then ‘right ok, maybe next time it'll be ten months or a year.’

The majority of social work staff also stated that confidence and self-esteem were key outcomes of mentoring. This increase in confidence was related to basic needs being met, as described by a senior social worker here:

SW3: Confidence definitely. I mean they'll go and get the women and take them to the one stop shop and stuff, basic needs, getting them registered with GPs, dentists, making sure they get to court, support them with employment needs, college. We've had Sacro mentors getting women into volunteering. Getting them an addictions worker, engaging with mental health services. So it ticks all their needs eh.

In the context of key issues facing women (including addiction, mental health problems, homelessness and poverty), confidence and self-esteem would not appear to be the most urgent issues. However, they are viewed as key outcomes of mentoring and therefore as key components related to offending, while reducing reoffending is an aim of mentoring. Confidence and self-esteem were often viewed by mentors to go hand in hand and they are also related to the concept of empowerment. The previous chapter identified ‘empowerment’ as a goal of mentoring according to mentors and staff. This is a difficult concept to measure and define. Haney (2010) states that empowerment cannot be realised in environments where women do not have freedom. Although the women in the present study were not imprisoned, many

were subject to statutory orders which restricted their freedom. Also, although the women in the present study did experience positive outcomes such as accessing their benefits, attending health related appointments and feeling more confident, it cannot be claimed that the women were ‘empowered’ because their freedom was still restricted by their marginalisation. For example, many women continued to live in poverty which was a limitation on their freedom and empowerment as noted by Gemma, who was coming towards the end of mentoring and viewed as a ‘success story’:

Gemma: The days consist of trailing around looking for the shops which are inexpensive, balancing heating and food costs. A balance between bus fares to these shops and appointments. If you are on your own you can only rely on yourself unless you have good friends. I find it exhausting at times to be honest, trailing shopping and soul destroying standing at bus stop and absolutely frozen 'blown to bits', having been fed up in the first place.

In the context of Sacro’s mentoring service there was little evidence of the type of empowerment which attempted to influence social circumstances of the women’s lives (Young 1994; Pollack 2005) which is likely reflective of the priorities and remit of the service. Service user involvement was a policy in place at Sacro and staff provided some examples, such as service user Feedback Forms and invitations to speak at meetings but this was only a small component of the service.

Improvements in the areas of empowerment, confidence and self-esteem must be considered in the context of the criminal justice system and the constraints this may have on making these gains. For example, the stigma associated with having a criminal record will have an impact on confidence (McDermott 2012). In addition, the criminal justice system and particularly prisons are focused on control, security and risk management. Any intervention that is in this context is necessarily concerned with these factors. For example, Pollack (2007) gives the example of a participant in her research study focused on the probation experiences of women, who attended a self- esteem course in prison because she felt bad about herself after being strip searched within the prison. This highlights the contradictory nature of the goal of the prison service in the context of the group work programme (to increase self-esteem) and the

about the likelihood of achieving goals such as confidence, empowerment and increases in self-esteem in an environment that contributes to impacting negatively on all of these. This is a challenge for a mentoring service that is attempting to resolve issues related to poverty and also the impact of imprisonment.