Practitioner assessments in the probation service: action research on a local, regional and national basis?

Abstract

Recently in the United Kingdom, probation service managers and practitioners have engaged in a collaborative action research process with researchers from the University of Oxford, to develop standardised assessment instruments for use with probation clients. The author worked with a number of probation services at a local level before becoming involved in a regional and national initiative, which introduced the research approach and findings on a larger scale. This article describes the action research initiative, exploring the use of a well-known typology of action research, and discusses the tensions between empowerment at the local level and imposition at the regional and national levels. Also highlighted are some of the problems of implementing and managing change in probation services, and consideration is made of the impact of the Home Office as a major influence in the national research scene.