‘Stopping you falling into the fire’: A mixed methods exploration of participant views of the Pathfinder Deferred Caution and Deferred Charge scheme

A mixed methods exploration of the views of participants in the Devon and Cornwall Pathfinder scheme. This is a deferred caution and deferred charge scheme which supports people in addressing core issues related to their crime.

Pathfinder is a scheme put into place by Devon and Cornwall Police. Under this scheme, people who have been charged or cautioned can opt to undertake a 4 month programme whereby they seek support for issues relating to the crime and meet with a keyworker on a regular basis. Succesful completion of the programme leads to the charge or caution being removed from their record. Devon and Cornwall Police approached Edinburgh for an independent evaluation. We chose a qualitative approach to be able to explore in-depth what participants felt were the particularly useful parts of the scheme.

The relationship with the keyworkers was pivotal to participants re-evaluating their views of themselves and the crime. Keyworkers also facilitated access to support services. Participants felt that the scheme led to a more positive view of the police, although many made a distinction between keyworkers and the police in general.