Probation and Social Work

Abstract

The paper considers the representation of probation themes in the British Journal of Social Work (BJSW) since the early 1990s, and reviews developments in probation policy and practice since then, with a focus on the relationship between probation practice and social work. It argues that emerging research evidence supports the view that effective probation practice is likely to be informed by values and skills that are recognizably within the tradition of social work, and concludes that despite pressures to abandon social work as a basis for probation practice, it is not obvious what the alternative could be.