Working with the ex-offender’s family in an Asian context—Part I : the “impossible” task of engaging the family

Abstract

Working with the family members of ex-offenders is a daunting and newly developing aspect of offender rehabilitation in Singapore. A practice research project carried out by three social work practitioners and two academics over a period of 22 months explored the pertinent issues and challenges in working with family members of ex-offenders. This two-part paper documents the process and lessons learned in working with the ex-offenders and their families from engagement to termination. The first part of this paper introduces the project and focuses on the issues pertinent to engaging ex-offenders and their family members.