Taking Probation Abroad
| Published date | 01 March 2009 |
| DOI | 10.1177/206622030900100105 |
| Date | 01 March 2009 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
66
European Journal of Probation
University of Bucharest
www.ejprob.ro
Vol. 1, No. 1, 2009, pp 66 - 78
Taking Probation Abroad
Rob Canton
Professor and Head of the Division of Community and Criminal Justice
De Montfort University
Leicester
Abstract
At a time of extensive international exchange in probation policies and practices, this
paper considers the opportunities and challenges of penal policy transfer. Using Ian
Hacking’s metaphor of an ecological niche, it is proposed that a number of inter-related
vectors constitute an environment in which a transfer might thrive (or fail). A preliminary
attempt is made to identify some of these influences. It is argued that t he success criteria
of transfer have been insufficiently discussed. Transfer can fail, but can also become
corrupted. It is proposed that the enhancement of human rights is the single most
important criterion for evaluating transfer.
Keywords: Policy transfer – Probation - Penal system - Human rights
Introduction
In the long history of debate in Europe about criminology and criminal justice (Walters,
R., 2003), probation services have often been active contributors. Since 1981, the
Conférence Permanente Européenne de la Probation has played a particularly important
part in knowledge exchange, facilitating dialogue across Europe about the ideas, policies
and practices of probation (Gründler, 1997). Especially since 1991, several countries in
Eastern Europe, trying to create or develop their probation organisations and practices,
have looked to jurisdictions with established probation services for models and for
guidance (Karstedt, 2004).
From knowledge exchange to policy transfer
These projects have been given an additional stimulus by concerns about the size of the
prison population. Prison populations are notoriously high in some of the countries of the
former Soviet Union and are increasing in most European countries (ICPS, 2008). At first
sight, the idea that probation and other sanctions or measures can provide alternatives to
custody looks like a rational and straightforward response to this predicament. There is,
however, a well-known criminological thesis, particularly associated with the work of
Stanley Cohen (for example, 1985), that argues that the relationship between prison and
its supposed alternatives is a symbiotic one: rather than being in competition, prison and
ISSN: 2066 - 2203
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