Directory of Research

All research and evidence on NICCO is reviewed using a Quality Assessment Tool (QAT) developed by the University of Huddersfield and Barnardo's.

Research and evidence is assessed in four key areas: Methodological Quality, Child-Centredness, Relevance to Policy and Strategy, and Relevance to Practice with offender's children. This ensures that items on the NICCO website are as useful as possible to academics, practitioners, commissioners and other professionals. For more information about the development of the QAT or to review research in order to list it on NICCO, please see the QAT webpage where you can download the Tool, Guidebook and a short step-by-step 'How To' document. Please contact us to submit quality assessed research on to NICCO.

Click on the icons to see a full list of items which have been awarded a standard icon or icon+ (for items which have scored particularly highly) in each key area:

This peer reviewed article refers to the impact of parental imprisonment on children in the USA but can be learned from by authors anywhere. It looks specifically at the trauma experienced by children of imprisoned parents including key processes such as visits and child care giving. The research utilises a comparison group of similarly disadvantaged, single care-giver families who do not have a parent in prison. The findings show that accounts of child trauma from both the care-giver and...
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This is the first European Journal of Parental Imprisonment from network COPE. In the wake of the 25th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child, articles in this journal consider European-wide and country-specific policy, legal and practice developments, and discourse from a children's rights perspective. Articles include: - 'Introduction Children of Prisoners Europe: pathways to change' by Liz Ayre - 'Child rights in post-Lisbon Europe, what about...
This briefing was published to coincide with the launch of the Prison Reform Trust (PRT)'s drive to minimise the number of women who are imprisoned. It begins by highlighting research and policy around the negative impacts of imprisonment on women's wellbeing, future life chances and importantly for us, the impacts on their children. Throughout the document reference to the children of female offenders is made including the new governments' plans to enable women with young...
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This new report examines the experiences and views of family members of people with particular needs, such as learning difficulties, mental health issues or substance misuse, who are in contact with the criminal justice system. It seeks to inform the development of liaison and diversion services and focuses on five themes around family involvement: Support for Families; Meeting Families' Needs; Awareness of, and contact with, liaison and diversion services; Confidentiality; and... Click here
You will need to subscribe to Taylor & Francis Online in order to read this article in full. This short research piece is based on a small study exploring the views of practitioners working directly with mothers in the Irish prison system on how the mother-child relationship is supported during imprisonment. Though the article is based on research in Ireland, it includes relevant information for all practitioners working with offenders and their children, particularly mothers,...
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This is a short guide for professionals from APOF around evidence and quality when working with offenders' children and families. It introduces the need for and tensions around evaluating services which work with this group. It suggests different recognised approaches to measuring the impact that services have (such as the four pillars approach) and stresses the importance of measuring against soft targets as well as for key outcomes. There are some examples of measurement tools as...
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The Centre is delivered by Barnardo’s in partnership with His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).
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