This book is a collection of essays by a unique group of authors about the political destruction of the probation service in England and Wales. All of them are probation officers turned academics, with a collective scholarly output that is both prodigious and distinguished. They address the history of probation, its underlying values and working methods, and the way it has been systematically dismantled by successive political administrations. The book offers essential reading for those interested in broadening their understanding of the probation service and its vital role in rehabilitation. In addition it makes a compelling case for the reinstatement of an evidence-based probation service as the primary criminal justice agency concerned with helping people who come before the courts to become contributing citizens. A lively and engrossing read, it is destined to be invaluable to policy makers, social science theorists and commentators, as well as scholars of criminology and the justice system, and all those who work in it.

The punitive prison currently dominates the practice of Anglo-American criminal justice, stigmatising its victims as perpetual 'offenders' and failing to change a majority of them for the better. Books of academic 'readings' sometimes profess neutrality over the controversies they invigilate. Offenders or Citizens? sits on no such fences, its pages reflect the fiercely partisan nature of the contest between rehabilitation and punishment. Probation, social work, youth justice, law, corrections, criminology, journalism, philosophy, politics, popular culture, psychology, anthropology, and sociology the voices of participants, professionals, and writers from many realms are all represented in this lively selection. Its aim - to stimulate and furnish a debate about the proper place of rehabilitation within a plural, morally defensible, and effective response to crime.

This book will be essential reading for both students and practitioners within criminal justice, who have an interest in the rehabilitation of convicted individuals, and providing an essential broader context to the 'what works' debate.

In this work Maurice Vanstone provides an authoritative and original account of the history of probation. This invaluable reference tool offers readers a new way of reading probation history and presents an original context for thinking about current policy and practice. While the study is essentially UK-focused, it also provides a comparative perspective by exploring the history of probation in the USA. The author's research has produced the only history of probation practice that does justice to the mixture of influences on the early probation service and paves the way for today's more evidence-based approach. The work is based in part upon original documents and interviews with retired and serving officers. Supervising Offenders in the Community will greatly interest criminologists and criminal justice, social policy, social history and social work academics and postgraduate students.

This handbook provides a unique overview of rehabilitation as practiced internationally in criminal justice. Through the contributions of a diverse group that includes, among others, academics (some of whom are former practitioners), research students, a judge, and a probation chief, it reflects common features of criminal justice in different countries and documents their diversity and celebrates their vitality. In recent times the idea of 'law and order' has been expropriated by populist, authoritarian and doctrinaire regimes, almost always and nearly everywhere in the service of arbitrary and unjust rule. By and large this handbook does not include such regimes. But 'law' itself also has the capacity to constrain rulers, and 'order' in the form of social peace is a universally approved civic asset. In part, the book provides a counter-narrative demonstrating that although criminal justice dispositions such as probation, prisons, and parole can be represented as a 'via dolorosa', rehabilitation as illustrated in these pages can become a journey that leads by degrees towards the possibility of a better life. The handbook will be of interest to students, academics, practitioners, managers, policy makers and all those who wish to gain insight into the why and the how of rehabilitation in criminal justice systems across the world.

Short-term prisoners have exceptionally high reconviction rates, fuelled by major social problems. Growing recognition of this, and of deficiencies in prison-probation coordination, has accelerated 'resettlement' of ex-prisoners up the penal agenda. The 'Resettlement Pathfinders' tested several new partnership-based approaches. This report evaluates three probation-led projects which combined practical assistance with interventions to improve motivation and capacity to change. Their key feature was the delivery of a cognitive-motivational programme ('FOR - A Change') specially designed for short-termers. The study found this produced significant changes in attitude, as well as greater 'continuity' (voluntary post-release contact between offenders and project staff) than previous approaches. It also found evidence of association between continuity and reduced reconviction. Overall, the findings support resettlement strategies based on fostering and nurturing offenders' motivation to change, facilitating access to services, and 'through the gate' contact with staff or volunteers with whom a relationship has already been built. The research offers findings and insights of practical value to probation and prison officers, as well as staff of other agencies that work with prisoners and ex-prisoners. The report should also be read by penal policy-makers, criminology/criminal justice academics and students, and those engaged in staff training.

Developments in Social Work with Offenders explains the organisational and legislative changes that have occurred in social work and probation across the UK in the past 10 years, in the context of the accumulating body of knowledge about what constitutes effective practice in the assessment, supervision and management of offenders in the community. Three different aspects of working with offenders are covered: developments in policy; assessment, supervision and intervention; and issues and needs. Contributions from experts in the field discuss issues such as community `punishment', case management, accreditation and resettlement. The continuing concern with promoting evidence-based solutions to crime is addressed, and this book will assist professionals working with offenders with making focused interventions supported by research. This book will be essential reading for students of social work and probation and criminology, probation officers and social workers.

Drawing on the authors' experience of research and practice in probation, the book provides a positive and realistic view of the contribution the probation service can make to the criminal justice system. It covers court work, face-to-face work with offenders, wider work in the community, and probation organisation and management. It is informed both by research on 'what works' and by a commitment to anti-discriminatory practice.

The punitive prison currently dominates the practice of Anglo-American criminal justice, stigmatising its victims as perpetual 'offenders' and failing to change a majority of them for the better. Books of academic 'readings' sometimes profess neutrality over the controversies they invigilate. Offenders or Citizens? sits on no such fences, its pages reflect the fiercely partisan nature of the contest between rehabilitation and punishment. Probation, social work, youth justice, law, corrections, criminology, journalism, philosophy, politics, popular culture, psychology, anthropology, and sociology the voices of participants, professionals, and writers from many realms are all represented in this lively selection. Its aim - to stimulate and furnish a debate about the proper place of rehabilitation within a plural, morally defensible, and effective response to crime.

This book will be essential reading for both students and practitioners within criminal justice, who have an interest in the rehabilitation of convicted individuals, and providing an essential broader context to the 'what works' debate.