Outlining the Co-Development of Twelve Desistance Principles to Reduce Sexual Reoffending

The number of people managed under MAPPA in England and Wales has risen significantly, creating new challenges for police supervising individuals with sexual convictions. Responding to calls for desistance-focused practices, this case study explores a co-produced project designed to support MOSOVO officers in adopting desistance-oriented approaches. Through participatory action research, police officers, people with lived experience, and academics collaborated to create three practical tools: a Desistance Practice Framework, a Desistance Management Plan, and Twelve Principles for Assisting Desistance. These were refined through stakeholder input and aim to help police support individual change, reduce reoffending, and manage growing caseloads more effectively. The principles provide a foundation for embedding desistance into policing, aligning risk management with rehabilitation and human rights.