The History of Probation: Politics, Power and Cultural Change 1876-2005

Abstract

Probation has a long-standing tradition of recruiting practitioners who believe in the capacity of human beings for transformation. As befits a relatively benevolent criminal justice agency which has traditionally focused on changing rather than containing people, probation staff have tended to be strongly motivated to work with their chosen client group (offenders) in order to facilitate their reintegration into society. As we approach the hundredth anniversary of the legislative creation of the probation service, two authors who can draw on immense probation practice experience have produced a broad-ranging historical account of the development of probation in England and Wales. As Whitehead and Statham ably demonstrate in this rigorously researched history, contemporary probation is a radically different institution from the model fashioned by the early pioneers of rehabilitation in the community. This is, above all, a timely book. Probation intervention with offenders now occupies centre stage in the criminal justice process. The effectiveness and quality of that intervention have been subjected to a remorseless level of public, political and media scrutiny unprecedented in probation's history. Some of this criticism may be misplaced. The daily probation caseload of 200,000+ clients includes 13,000 offenders who present a high or very high risk of re-offending. Last year, 0.6 per cent of these were charged or convicted of a further serious offence; this is a relatively low figure, given all the circumstances. At the same time, the probation service has been experiencing a period of intense structural, organizational and cultural change. The authors explore how probation's professional ethos has undergone upheaval as the service has embarked on a process of radical transformation from what was, in essence, an organization engaged in social work intervention with offenders to an agency whose key imperative is law enforcement. This shift away from a social work value base is paralleled by a further shift in values, transferring at least part of probation provision out of the public sector and towards private provision. A unique and internationally renowned culture which had emphasized rehabilitation as its primary aim is being transformed.