The Criminologist

In this episode of The Criminologist Podcast, we welcome back Dr. Jerrod Brown for a fascinating conversation on LEGO®-based interventions with justice-involved populations.
At first glance, LEGO® bricks may not seem like an obvious tool for probation, corrections, forensic mental health, or human services. But as Dr. Brown explains, structured LEGO®-based activities can provide a powerful, hands-on way to engage individuals who may struggle with traditional talk-based interventions.
This conversation explores the intersection of neurodisability, responsivity, trauma-informed practice, and skill development. Many justice-involved individuals experience challenges related to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, traumatic brain injury, autism-related needs, dyslexia, learning disabilities, attention, memory, executive functioning, communication, emotional regulation, and social problem-solving.
When these realities are missed, professionals may misinterpret confusion as resistance, poor memory as dishonesty, difficulty following instructions as defiance, or emotional dysregulation as simply "bad behavior."
Dr. Brown helps us think differently.
LEGO®-based interventions can offer a structured, non-threatening, and highly practical way to help individuals build and practice skills such as:
communication
cooperation
problem-solving
emotional regulation
perspective-taking
frustration tolerance
planning and sequencing
following directions
teamwork
confidence and mastery
For professionals grounded in the Risk-Need-Responsivity framework, this episode is especially relevant. Risk tells us who to prioritize. Need tells us what to target. But responsivity reminds us that how we deliver interventions matters deeply.
If the intervention does not fit the learner, we should not be surprised when the intervention does not stick.
This episode challenges us to consider how hands-on, visual, structured, and experiential approaches may help make evidence-informed practice more accessible for the people we serve.
A huge thank you to Dr. Jerrod Brown for joining the podcast once again and for continuing to push our field to think more carefully, creatively, and compassionately about effective intervention.
For additional questions, Dr. Brown can be reached at:
Jerrod01234Brown@live.com
Thanks for listening to The Criminologist Podcast. And always remember, There's no them...There's only us.

In this episode of The Criminologist Podcast, we welcome back Dr. Jerrod Brown for a fascinating conversation on LEGO®-based interventions with justice-involved populations.
At first glance, LEGO® bricks may not seem like an obvious tool for probation, corrections, forensic mental health, or human services. But as Dr. Brown explains, structured LEGO®-based activities can provide a powerful, hands-on way to engage individuals who may struggle with traditional talk-based interventions.
This conversation explores the intersection of neurodisability, responsivity, trauma-informed practice, and skill development. Many justice-involved individuals experience challenges related to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, traumatic brain injury, autism-related needs, dyslexia, learning disabilities, attention, memory, executive functioning, communication, emotional regulation, and social problem-solving.
When these realities are missed, professionals may misinterpret confusion as resistance, poor memory as dishonesty, difficulty following instructions as defiance, or emotional dysregulation as simply "bad behavior."
Dr. Brown helps us think differently.
LEGO®-based interventions can offer a structured, non-threatening, and highly practical way to help individuals build and practice skills such as:
communication
cooperation
problem-solving
emotional regulation
perspective-taking
frustration tolerance
planning and sequencing
following directions
teamwork
confidence and mastery
For professionals grounded in the Risk-Need-Responsivity framework, this episode is especially relevant. Risk tells us who to prioritize. Need tells us what to target. But responsivity reminds us that how we deliver interventions matters deeply.
If the intervention does not fit the learner, we should not be surprised when the intervention does not stick.
This episode challenges us to consider how hands-on, visual, structured, and experiential approaches may help make evidence-informed practice more accessible for the people we serve.
A huge thank you to Dr. Jerrod Brown for joining the podcast once again and for continuing to push our field to think more carefully, creatively, and compassionately about effective intervention.
For additional questions, Dr. Brown can be reached at:
Jerrod01234Brown@live.com
Thanks for listening to The Criminologist Podcast. And always remember, There's no them...There's only us.

*]:pointer-events-auto R6Vx5W_threadScrollVars scroll-mb-[calc(var(--scroll-root-safe-area-inset-bottom,0px)+var(--thread-response-height))] scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id= "request-6980e079-2d08-832c-91e0-4a28660cace1-7" data-turn-id-container= "request-6980e079-2d08-832c-91e0-4a28660cace1-7" data-testid= "conversation-turn-638" data-scroll-anchor="false" data-turn= "assistant"> 🎙️ Episode Show Notes — Part One
The Missing Story of Probation with Stephen Pitts & Imants Mozers
What is the story probation tells about itself?
And perhaps just as importantly…
What happens when probation does not tell that story clearly?
In this episode of The Criminologist Podcast, we begin a powerful two-part conversation with Stephen Pitts and Imants Mozers, co-authors of the new book:
📘 The Missing Story: Probation, Legitimacy and the Battle for Public Understanding
This conversation was so rich, timely, and engaging that we decided to release it as a two-part series.
In Part One, Steve and Imants help us explore why probation remains one of the most important — yet often misunderstood — parts of the justice system.
Too often, the public hears about probation only when something goes wrong.
But what is missing from that narrative?
The daily work of supporting change. The quiet building of accountability. The role probation plays in desistance. The contribution probation makes to safer communities. And the professional identity of the people doing this work every day.
🔍 In This Episode, We Discuss:
✅ Why probation has a "missing story" ✅ How public understanding shapes legitimacy ✅ Why probation is often defined by failure rather than impact ✅ The importance of narrative in justice reform ✅ How probation professionals can better communicate their value ✅ The connection between legitimacy, trust, and effective practice ✅ Why probation's identity matters — both internally and externally ✅ The role of leadership in shaping public understanding
🌍 Why This Conversation Matters
Probation is not simply about monitoring people.
It is about supporting rehabilitation, reducing reoffending, building social reintegration, and helping create safer futures.
Yet too often, probation is undervalued because its most meaningful work happens quietly — in conversations, relationships, case plans, community partnerships, and moments of human change that rarely make headlines.
Steve and Imants challenge us to think differently.
They invite us to ask:
👉 Who tells the story of probation? 👉 What story does the public actually hear? 👉 What happens when probation is misunderstood? 👉 And how can the field become more intentional in communicating its purpose, value, and impact?
📘 About the Book
The Missing Story: Probation, Legitimacy and the Battle for Public Understanding explores the urgent need for probation to better explain itself — not as a soft option, not as an invisible arm of the justice system, but as a vital public service rooted in accountability, rehabilitation, and community safety.
Learn more about the Probation Futures project here:
🌐 www.probationfutures.com
There, you can sign up for updates and learn more about the digital book release and related probation-focused conversations from around the world.
🎧 Stay Tuned for Part Two
In Part Two of this conversation, we continue the discussion by exploring:
🔹 The importance of including perspectives of people with lived experience 🔹 How probation can become more transparent and credible 🔹 The future of international probation collaboration 🔹 And the next World Congress on Probation and Parole, which will be held in Riga, Latvia
🎙️ Final Thought
Probation's missing story is not simply about what probation does.
It is about what probation means.
And if probation does not tell that story clearly, someone else will tell it for us.
🔗 Connect & Learn More
📘 Probation Futures: www.probationfutures.com 🎙️ The Criminologist Podcast: thecriminologistpodcast@gmail.com 🌊 Learn more about the TIDES Supervision Model: TheTIDESLLC.com
And as always…
There's no them. There's only us.

What if the people you supervise aren't one fixed version of themselves… but multiple possible versions—each shaped by what gets reinforced over time?
In this episode, I introduce a practical way to think about behavior change in supervision—what I've been developing as Quantum Desistance.
This isn't about physics. It's a lens.
A way to understand how change actually unfolds—not through one intervention, but through patterns that repeat, stabilize, and eventually become identity.
We build from what you already know:
The Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model
Desistance theory and identity transformation
The role of reinforcement, environment, and relationships
And then take the next step:
👉 Moving from managing risk → shaping probability 👉 From behavior → identity 👉 From compliance → coherence
You'll hear how this shows up in real supervision using a case example, and how small, intentional shifts can begin to change what becomes more likely for the people you work with.
I also walk through a simple, field-tested tool:
"Shift the Week, Shift the Self"
A structured way to:
Map a client's real week
Identify patterns that drive behavior
Introduce the Three Selves (Working, Feared, Preferred)
Apply 1–2 small changes that move behavior—and identity—in a new direction
Because lasting change doesn't come from one moment.
It comes from what gets repeated.
🔧 If you want to go deeper
To learn more about the TIDES Supervision Model, visit: 👉 TheTIDESLLC.com
Questions about the "Shift the Week, Shift the Self" tool? 📩 thecriminologistpodcast@gmail.com Or connect with me on LinkedIn.
🎯 Bottom line
You are not just managing risk.
You are shaping probability.
You are helping determine which version of that person becomes real.

In this episode of The Criminologist Podcast, host Joseph Arvidson is joined by Paul Doke, PhD candidate at Liverpool John Moores University, to explore one of the most overlooked questions in our field:
What does it take not just to desist from crime—but to stay desisting over time?
Building on Shadd Maruna's groundbreaking Liverpool Desistance Study, Paul's research—"Made Good and Stayed Good"—examines identity, recovery, and belonging among long-term members of Narcotics Anonymous who have sustained desistance from crime and substance use for 5, 10, even 40 years.
Together, Joseph and Paul explore:
Why the concept of "stable recovery" at 5 years may be incomplete
Where long-term desisters go after disengaging from the system
The critical role of identity transformation in sustained desistance
How Narcotics Anonymous fosters belonging, meaning, and pro-social identity
Why lived experience must be centered in desistance research and practice
The shift from thinking of people as having "desisted" to actively desisting
Paul also shares his own powerful journey—from cycles of criminality and substance use to higher education and doctoral research—bringing a rare and essential perspective as both scholar and lived experience expert.
And in a remarkable full-circle moment, Paul reflects on his connection to the original Liverpool Desistance Study—not just as a researcher, but as a participant.
This is a conversation about the long arc of change, the power of community, and what it truly means to make good—and stay good.
🔗 Learn More
To learn more about applying desistance principles in your own work, explore the TIDES Supervision Model: 👉 https://thetidesllc.com/
🎙️ Connect with the Show
Have questions or want to connect? Reach out through The Criminologist Podcast.
🔑 Final Thought
Desistance is not a destination. It is a process—one that unfolds over time, through identity, belonging, and human connection.