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The decision to scrap the Sex Offender Treatment Programme raised major concerns about the rehabilitation of prisoners and the impact on victims. The scheme was replaced five years after initial research suggested it wasn\\u2019t working - and might even increase the risk of re-offending. There are now calls to ensure that other courses, including those which cater for violent offenders, are properly evaluated.

Campaigners claim the system for assessing the effectiveness of such programmes is too secretive and needs to be made more open. Some experts believe there\\u2019s been an over-reliance on treatment schemes as a way of calculating the risks posed by prisoners. Victims say some prisoners are playing the system \\u2013 accessing programmes to convince the authorities they\\u2019re safe to be released. Former inmates say education and training are more likely to stop offenders returning to a life of crime, while there\\u2019s emerging evidence that providing newly-released prisoners with support in the community is the key.

Reporter Danny Shaw\\nProducer Nicola Dowling\\nEditor Carl Johnston

Photo credit; Motortion\\\\Getty