Speakers
Parallel Workshops
Desistance research underscores the central role of prosocial identities and supportive relationships in sustaining long-term behavioural change. In the Singapore context, family remains the primary social unit to which inmates return after incarceration. Recognising the influence of families in long term desistance, the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) adopts a structured approach to engaging families throughout the inmate’s rehabilitation and community transition in collaboration with community partners.
The Family Engagement (FAMe) framework offers a tiered model that integrates family-focused interventions with coordinated community support, creating touchpoints with families at key phases of the inmate journey. Designed to reinforce inmates’ prosocial identities and roles, FAMe begins at admission, where SPS partners with volunteers through the Yellow Ribbon Community Partners (YRCP) and Family Resource Centres (FRCs) to assess family needs and connect them to relevant services. This early engagement enables timely support for family-related risks and lays a stronger foundation for rehabilitation and reintegration.
During incarceration, inmates participate in Together-In-Every-Step (TIES), a family-focused, psychology-based correctional programme that fosters reflection on relationships and culminates in a Family Joint Session to strengthen connections. Beyond TIES, families may be supported through peer-led family circles, specialist interventions, and programmes delivered by community partners. Initiatives such as Project Hope, developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MOE), nurture bonds between children and incarcerated parents.
Through FAMe, SPS positions families and community partners as central in sustaining desistance and enabling successful reintegration.
Dr Melvinder Singh is a trained clinical psychologist who has served in the Public Service in Singapore for more than two decades. Over the course of his career, Dr Melvinder has held a range of roles spanning forensic and clinical psychology practice and policy, research, programme evaluation, and data science.
The majority of his career has been spent with the Singapore Prison Service (SPS), where he has worked with violent and sex offenders - addressing their needs and preparing them for reintegration into the community. Dr Melvinder currently serves as a Senior Consultant Psychologist in SPS, with a particular focus on matters concerning the rehabilitation of violent offenders.