Conceptualising ‘success’ among Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentenced offenders with personality-related difficulties

Abstract

This paper explores conceptualisations of ‘ success’ by men on Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence licence screened into the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway. ‘ Success’ was defined as a process of having ‘ survived’ the perceived injustices associated with the IPP sentence. Participants’ discussed ‘ internal factors’ enabling them to make use of ‘ external facilitators’ of self-change; ‘ success’ was embedded in the development of interpersonal relationships with professionals. We propose a model of reciprocal anxiety existing within the criminal justice system in relation to the management of individuals on IPP sentence.