Probation Journal

Issue Number

Latest documents

• In court
• Sentencing review – Time to change direction?
• Positive reinforcement in probation practice: The practice and dilemmas of praise

  Positive reinforcement is a key part of probation practice, and linked to client desistance from offending. The main way practitioners positively reinforce clients’ prosocial comments or behaviours is through praising them. However, praise is tricky in interaction, as people are under pressure to accept the positive assessment whilst also avoiding self-praise. Applying conversation analysis to 21 video recordings of probation sessions originally collected for the Jersey Supervision Skills Study, we examine how this important aspect of probation features and functions in practice, and how clients respond. Our analysis shows how practitioners and clients manage the practice and dilemmas of praise.

• People on probation as an inclusion health group: Exploring needs, barriers and service provision in Wales

  People on probation face particular health inequalities and are categorised as an ‘inclusion health’ population group within public health policy in Wales. The health of this group is thought to be worse than the general population and a factor in whether people reoffend. This article is based on mixed-methods exploratory research which included a survey covering 34 community-based services who work with people on probation across Wales. Survey respondents indicated service availability and waiting lists, and mistrust of professionals are key barriers to accessing healthcare. The most identified health needs were mental health and substance misuse related. There is an opportunity to increase the focus on healthcare for people on probation through inclusion health approaches.

• A ‘weight’ on the shoulders of our youth: The pains of probation on young adult men with a sexual conviction. An exploratory study

  This article is about the ‘pains of probation’ experienced by young adult men with a sexual conviction. It draws on the findings from a research study completed between July and August 2022. Seventeen participants who were subject to a probation Community Order or Suspended Sentence Order in England and Wales were interviewed about their experiences, and the impact, of community punishment on their lives. Three groups of pains were identified, which are pervasive, reaching beyond the boundaries of the Order. The strategies utilised by the young adults to manage these pains are explored, with the supervisory relationship a key factor in alleviating pains. This article argues that being subject to a probation order is experienced as painful, with the nature and type of deprivation affected by offence type and demographic variations. Despite the limitations of the exploratory study from which this article is drawn, there are implications for penal policy and future research.

• Book review: Coercive Control and the Criminal Law
• Testing and refining an approach to identifying health and social care needs in probation

  We piloted an approach to identifying the health and social care needs of people on probation using a survey consisting of validated screening tools and key additional questions. We share findings from our analysis of the sample data, showing that there is a high complexity of needs in this population, with 65.4% of participants reporting at least one unmet need. We also explore the acceptability of this approach to identifying needs being used in routine probation practice and make recommendations about how identification and recording of needs could be approached and further researched in the future.

• Gender in a ‘caring’ profession: The demographic and cultural dynamics of the feminisation of the probation service in England and Wales

  The number of women working in occupations that lay claim to professional status has increased markedly in recent decades, but the speed and extent of the ‘feminisation’ of the probation service in England and Wales render it unique. Such change has occurred against the backdrop of attempts to present the service in more ‘masculine’ terms, to increase punitiveness while maximising its efficiency. This article seeks to move explanations for feminisation beyond gender stereotypes about care work. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 38 members of staff from across the probation estate, and with particular regard to the unification of services, it explores the demographic and cultural dynamics of feminisation. The article argues that the sustained (and ongoing) devaluation of probation's professional project, pay and working conditions have impacted retention and recruitment in such a way that has filtered into the gender composition of the service.

• In court
• Book review: Eliminating Online Child Sexual Abuse Material

Featured documents

• "Style of Management" in the Probation and After-Care Service
• (Continued from front page)
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• A Brief History of N.A.P.O
• A Future for Civil Work? Dear Sir
• A pedagogy of ‘public criminology’ as a counter to marginality? Lessons for community sanctions and measures from the Pedagogy of the Oppressed

  As a subject of study in higher education, criminology has never been more popular; and yet, criminologists occupy an increasingly marginal position within political and media spheres. This marginalisation has arguably been to the detriment of those with lived experience of the criminal justice...

• A Role For Forensic Psychology In The Probation Service?

  The 'What Works' movement has seen a greater emphasis on psychological interventions to address offending behaviour, and probation work draws increasingly on psychological principles. Here, members of a Forensic Psychology Practice describe the principles of the service they provide to three...

• Abandoning Controls or Humanity?
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