‘A lack of cultural understanding and sometimes interest’: Towards half a century of anti-racist policy, practice and strategy within probation
| Published date | 01 June 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/02645505231213977 |
| Author | John Wainwright,Lol Burke,Steve Collett |
| Date | 01 June 2024 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
‘A lack of cultural
understanding and
sometimes interest’:
Towards half a century
of anti-racist policy,
practice and strategy
within probation
John Wainwright
University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK
Lol Burke
Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
Steve Collett
University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
Abstract
In 2021, HM Inspectorate of Probation published a long awaited and highly critical
report –Race equality in probation: the experience of black, Asian and minority eth-
nic probation service users and staff. The inspection upon which it was based was
conducted in the Autumn of 2020 and was therefore set against the background of
the death of George Floyd in the United States, and the rise of the Black Lives
Matter movement worldwide. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement laid down a
challenge on many levels, stating that black, Asian and minority ethnic people
must be accepted and respected as equal citizens and nowhere is this more urgently
needed than within the operation of the criminal justice system. However, its follow up
report (HM Inspectorate of Probation 2023) reported being disappointed in the lack
Corresponding Author:
Lol Burke, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK.
Email: L.Burke@ljmu.ac.uk
Article The Journal of Communit
y
and Criminal Justice
Probation Journal
2024, Vol. 71(2) 116–138
© The Author(s) 2024
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/02645505231213977
journals.sagepub.com/home/prb
of progress made by the Probation Service in addressing the issues raised in its earlier
report. The article seeks to move beyond the conclusions and recommendations of the
Inspection report using the lens of Critical Race Theory to engage in a discussion of
systemic racism in society. To do this we have used three levels of analysis –
macro,meso and micro –to situate contemporary probation within the wider struc-
tures of a post-colonial society.
Keywords
(anti) racism, probation, rehabilitation, desistance, othering
Introduction
September 2023 saw the publication of a Thematic Inspection by HM Inspectorate
of Probation (HMIP, 2023a) which followed up the progress made in probation
since their 2021 long awaited and highly critical report –Race equality in proba-
tion: the experience of black, Asian and minority ethnic probation service users
and staff (2021a). This follow-up Inspection tellingly commented –‘We found that
implementation and delivery of services were better; however, not enough people
on probation had an effective, trusting relationship with their probation practi-
tioner …Levels of engagement and the delivery of services were worse than for
white individuals, as judged by data from our adult inspection programme. We
found few examples of effective practice in working with minority ethnic individuals’
(2023:9). This, in our view, reflects a depressing failure to respond to the original
overdue and deeply critical Inspection that could reasonably have been expected
to resonate within probation at all levels at a time when racial equality and problems
within the criminal justice system had gained a degree of public traction. As the
Foreword to the original Inspection itself reflects, it was conducted in the Autumn
of 2020 and was therefore set against ‘the background of the death of George
Floyd in the United States, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement worldwide
and the Covid-119 pandemic from March’(2021a: 4).
Evidence abounds of the pernicious impact of criminal justice policies, proce-
dures and practices delivered through a complex system of decision-making that dis-
proportionately criminalises certain individuals and communities. There has been a
plethora of reports –both local and national, research based and official –that point
to the extent of racism in the wider criminal justice system and other social welfare
agencies as being effectively institutional in nature. In terms of the recent past, all of
these can be bookended by the inquiry into the murder in 1993 of Stephen
Lawrence (MacPherson, 1999) and most recently, the report by Louise Casey into
the standards of behaviour and internal culture of the Metropolitan Police Service
(Casey, 2023). The ramifications of Casey’s Review reverberate throughout the
whole of the criminal justice system, nationally and locally. As the Lammy Review
(2017) demonstrated, the levels of disproportionality continue at every stage
within the criminal justice system and analysis and research continues to demon-
strate the unequal treatment of black Asian and minority ethnic men and women
1
Burke et al. 117
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