Development Team – Company Director, Media Education
We believe that there is a pressing need for communities to understand each other better so that society can organise in a way that works for everyone.
One way in which we respond to this need is to create films presenting different lived experience perspectives in a safe and empowering way. We then take these films to diverse audiences and facilitate debates and discussions. In our previous article in the 2022- 2023 Reporter, we discussed the creation of 7 films that showcased the work of services across Community Justice focused on reducing reoffending across 6 themed areas:
- Women in the justice system
- The role of social enterprises
- Diversion
- Prevention
- Restorative case conferencing
- Restorative approaches
- Throughcare
The films were made by a lived experience media team with different experiences of the themed areas. In order to make the films we visited many amazing initiatives and projects across the city and spoke to people delivering services, people involved in developing policy and people accessing services for support to rebuild their lives following offending.
Since completing the films, we have been holding facilitated community screenings. The first screening was a 5-year priority setting event, where the discussions raised by the films informed a revision that was taking place of the local Community Justice Outcome Improvement Plan (CJOIP). This event was attended by a wide range of stakeholders from across Community Justice. Since this screening we have revisited many venues and community settings where the audiences have not had any background in the issues discussed in the films.
In each setting no matter how diverse, audiences have responded to the integrity of the people in the films, their values, and their motivations. They are inspirational and the personalities feel very close to the viewer as people articulate why they do the jobs they do, why they believe in their work and people accessing support explain how the services and people have helped them in different ways to see their own potential to make changes in their lives. They are intensely human and allow audiences to emotionally connect with the person talking.
What has been striking is that even where we have begun screenings with a slightly frosty reception, once people see the films, they are won over by the common-sense arguments and approaches presented.
Going forward, in September we are delighted to be going back to West of Scotland University to screen the films to the new intake of nursing students. These students will go on from university to meet people from all backgrounds and experiences in their jobs. Their feedback was that they rarely got insight into people’s lives different from their own, insight into why events can unfold in people’s lives to take them on different paths. They were struck by the way in which the experience of how the right interventions – at the right time – could radically alter a person’s chances of rebuilding their lives. The films build a more trauma-informed response through empathy and understanding, something which for people training for a care role is of crucial importance. This invitation came initially from a Saturday City Chambers screening to Community Council representatives from across Glasgow which resulted in an invitation to Glasgow Rotary Club and through this to the West of Scotland University and the nursing students.
There is a power in storytelling to help us all imagine alternative solutions to the problems we face as a society. The stories in the films present experiences in a way that people can connect with and understand. They build an understanding of amazing work taking place in Community Justice from a grassroots perspective. They have also allowed difficult conversations around the fear created by crime, the victim’s feelings, and how, as a society, we need brave solutions to solve the complex social problems the justice system is presented with if we are to reduce reoffending and prevent this in the first place. What is nice is that the films already show some potential solutions which are working due to the commitment of those involved. The films are available for anyone to download and use at https://vimeo.com/showcase/9606357.