Having completed the journey out and back in, the hero is now master of both natural and supernatural worlds. He can pass over the threshold between the two without further trail. This cements the Hero’s position as the ultimate power. In the case of Code4000, this can be interpreted by the ex-offender rejecting the life that they formerly had, and fully embracing their new future. However, we must be conscious that staying ‘master of the two worlds’ is harder than we think and often requires a whole support network of people working behind the scenes.
Staying on the right path requires huge effort to resist falling back into an old lifestyle, and often returning back to old ways is due to factors outside of the individual’s control. For example, in the United Kingdom, the three most common crimes committed by those who are in prisons are violence against another person, burglary and fraud. However, the reasons causing these individuals to end up committing a crime varies hugely, from social pressures or financial difficulties, to sheer desperation. One aspect that they all have in common is that, once they re-enter society, often these prior reasons for committing crime are still present in their lives, making avoidance of reoffending difficult. Indeed, this stage of mastery will require our hero to go on a number of adventures that will challenge their thinking and behaviour.
The statistics speak for themselves, with the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice recording that the average rate of reoffending was at 28.1% (2020). However, amongst these statistics, there are some individuals who are, unfortunately, significantly more likely than average to reoffend. For example, those in juvenile facilities have a reoffending rate of 37.3% and those who complete a sentence of less than 12 months have a reoffending rate of 61.0%. The question is, how can prisons help their inmates to improve their chances of being amongst the 71.9% (on average) who do not reoffend.
This is where the efforts of Code 4000, and organisations like Code 4000, play a key role in providing the prison inmates with the skills they need to help themselves find careers when they finish their sentences. Code4000 is an educational organisation that delivers computer programming training in UK prisons, and supports their students to find work upon release. Code 4000 holds the belief that everyone can learn to code, and that the experience is transformative, building the prisoners confidence and self-esteem, as well as coding being a valuable skill that employers want. To date, 0% Code 4000 course graduates have reoffended once they have left prison, which is a fantastic accolade to the graduates and the Code 4000 course.
Code 4000 was the one thing that allowed me to stay away from the negative stuff in prison, Code 4000 allowed me to focus on things that I could potentially do walking out of there. It was a gruelling 18 months that I was in prison, but, again, if it were not for prison, and not for finding Code 4000, I don’t know where I would be today. (Amanul, a 2019 Code 4000 graduate)
Not only does Code 4000 help develop the confidence of their graduates, and reduce their chances of reoffending, but it also helps save the UK tax payer money. Indeed, it costs the UK taxpayer around £18.1 billion a year on reoffences, of which theft offences cost the most, at £9.3 billion a year. Thus, it is evident, not only are organisations like Code 4000 beneficial for the graduates of the course, but also to the UK as a whole, by assisting in reducing the financial cost of reoffending. Certainly, once the Code 4000 prisoners have something to focus on, that can help them develop the skills to leave crime behind them, they have no incentive to reoffend, preferring instead to focus on their careers.
I’m working, and I’ve got a stable income, and I’m working on getting into a career that I want to be in, and it’s like, if it happens tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, I know that that’s what I want to do. (Amanul)
Code 4000 functions through the generous donations and grants of charities and individuals, and with your help the organisation can expand to more prisons, offering the opportunity to develop their coding skills to those most likely to reoffend.
You can support the work Code4000 do by donating on our Enthuse page, here.
