Book Review: The Magistracy at the Crossroads
| Author | Dervla McArt |
| Date | 01 June 2013 |
| Published date | 01 June 2013 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0264550513490124b |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
base the semiotic analysis of the various sets of standards may be challenged.
Nevertheless, the degree of academic rigour and depth of personal reflection
through this chapter is evident and readers can take delight in the intellectual and
ethical challenge this will provide. Perhaps the only disappointment in this chapter is
that the most recent set of standards examined are those from 2007.
If there is any disappointment at the lack of contemporaneity in the analysis of
national standards in Chapter five, this is redressed in the final chapter. Goodman
exclaims:
Of interest is that the ideology of the practitioners has not changed but their sense of
limited freedom to operate has. More recently, the ‘control freakery’ of New Labour
has been relaxed, but is the purpose of this to encourage professional judgement and
discretion, or to enable parts of the work with offenders to be hived off to the private,
for-profit sector. (p. 195)
Given the unique combination of political and practice analysis, along with
personal and practitioner experience, this book offers a valuable contribution to the
understanding of probation in the rehabilitation and resettlement of offenders in the
community. Practitioners are provided with the tools and prompts with which to
reflect on their work, and academics are provided with the collective wisdom of
practitioners in understanding the daily experiences and challenges of rehabilita-
tive practice.
The Magistracy at the Crossroads
David Faulkner
Waterside Press; 2012; pp 176; £14.95, pbk
ISBN: 978-1904380863
Reviewed by: Dervla McArt, Research and Evaluation Officer,
Greater Manchester Probation Trust
David Faulkner has created an exploratory, topical and insightful book consisting
of 16 brief chapters, each written by a different author (Nicola Padfield, Rod
Morgan, Andrew Ashworth, to name but a few) with their own individual theme to
explore.
The overarching premise of the book is that after 650 years of magistrates ser-
ving in England and Wales as Justices of the Peace they are now at a juncture,
mostly in political and policy terms but also in a cultural and societal sense. The
book focuses on the challenges faced by this longstanding and respected public
institution, particularly as a result of a ‘fast-changing’ (p. 59), ‘resource-driven’
198 Probation Journal 60(2)
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