Deconstructing the Probation Service — the Trojan Horse of Public Protection (original) (raw)
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Defending probation: Beyond privatisation and security
The current debate about the privatisation of probation in the UK has tended to set up a false dichotomy between state and private that diverts attention from the fact that privatisation as part of a 'rehabilitation revolution' intends, in fact, to continue the domination of the risk management approach. What is emerging is a public– private combination of increasingly centralised public sector probation and the private 'security-industrial complex' of global security corporations. An important consequence of this process is the annihilation of both residual elements of voluntary sector and community work within probation itself and of the smaller private charities and third sector organisations that have long collaborated with probation in traditional desistance work. This complex dynamic is a reflection of some of the key internal inconsistencies of neoliberalism as a political strategy. Probation in harsh times In the current debate about privatisation, it is important to remember that probation in England and Wales has, throughout its history, been subject to twin processes of privati-sation and increasing absorption into the state as an agency of criminal justice and
Defending probation: Beyond privatisation and security (2014)
European Journal of Probation, 2014
The current debate about the privatisation of probation in the UK has tended to set up a false dichotomy between state and private that diverts attention from the fact that privatisation as part of a 'rehabilitation revolution' intends, in fact, to continue the domination of the risk management approach. What is emerging is a publicprivate combination of increasingly centralised public sector probation and the private 'security-industrial complex' of global security corporations. An important consequence of this process is the annihilation of both residual elements of voluntary sector and community work within probation itself and of the smaller private charities and third sector organisations that have long collaborated with probation in traditional desistance work. This complex dynamic is a reflection of some of the key internal inconsistencies of neoliberalism as a political strategy.
Effective Practice in Probation: An Example of 'Advanced Liberal'Responsibilisation?
The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 2002
This article argues that the dominant emphasis upon effective practice in probation work, particularly the emergence of effective programmes can be understood as an example of a key mechanism of social control in advanced liberal societies. Utilising Rose's concept of 'responsibilisation' the article examines the role of effective programmes in the emerging social policy agenda of citizen re-moralisation, responsibilisation and inclusion exemplified in late modern advanced liberal welfare states. The article concludes that the embracement of effective programmes has reconstituted the probation service as a key agency in the social control and exclusion of those citizens deemed 'intransigent' or 'irresponsible', thus assisting in the demarcation of those who can play a full role in the welfare society from those who cannot.
Effective practice in probation: an example of ‘advanced liberalism responsibilisation
2002
This article argues that the dominant emphasis upon effective practice in probation work, particularly the emergence of effective programmes can be understood as an example of a key mechanism of social control in advanced liberal societies. Utilising Rose's concept of 'responsibilisation' the article examines the role of effective programmes in the emerging social policy agenda of citizen re-moralisation, responsibilisation and inclusion exemplified in late modern advanced liberal welfare states. The article concludes that the embracement of effective programmes has reconstituted the probation service as a key agency in the social control and exclusion of those citizens deemed 'intransigent' or 'irresponsible', thus assisting in the demarcation of those who can play a full role in the welfare society from those who cannot.
People are not things: What New Labour has done to Probation
Probation Journal, 2010
To many observers, Probation at the end of Labour's third term was characterized by an enduring sense of uncertainty resulting from a prolonged period of unremitting change, burdened by bureaucracy and over-zealous micromanagement by the centre and subsumed into a complex organizational framework dominated by prison-based personnel. The sense of betrayal and alienation felt by many within the service towards the Government was a far cry from the cautious optimism that had marked the election of a Labour Government in 1997, coming as it did after a period in which the service had seen the short lived promise to move centre stage (Patten, 1988) replaced by an openly hostile promotion of prison works which seemed to threaten its very existence. In this article we attempt to evaluate the changing relationship between Probation and New Labour, placing it within the context of the wider approaches to crime control adopted by the government in each of its three terms in office. Finally, we consider the legacy of the past 13 years and conclude that despite the negative impact on Probation of an unrelenting reductionist focus on managerialist and technical policy fixes, there may yet be some grounds for optimism.
The new governance of probation
The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 2002
There is a richness of material around the subject of governance and public service, much of which is relevant to the organisation of probation as a public service in the new millennium. It is possible to be excited, concerned, dismayed and excited again, all in turn, by the direction of thinking on public services. Excited by the move to citizen-centred approaches, concerned at the poverty of thinking in probation about these approaches, dismayed by some of the simplistic, negative ideas that we live with and excited again by hopes of readdressing our present and our future. This article addresses both the necessity and potential of the new Probation Boards within the strategic framework set by the new National Probation Directorate in England and Wales. The Boards have arrived, perhaps rather fortuitously, without much of a rationale, at least a written one, but they have the potential to create a strong local dimension in the administration of the service. They could make a significant contribution to the achievement of service objectives, to local communities, to community justice and not least to the hard-working probation staff whose proverbial energy and dedication we can no longer take for granted. Criminology, Probation and the McWilliams Tradition The history of the probation service and criminology has long been entwined, and the McWilliams memorial lecture series is one of the more recent expressions of this entwining. Garland (2001) speaks of criminological thinking having been located in three major social settings: the academic world, the world of government, and the world of popular culture. These are closely linked but operationally separate areas, with pure criminology mainly reduced today to the academic world. Valuable work is done here but in itself it has relatively little impact unless it actively reaches out to the wider world and addresses problems of direct concern to it. Bill McWilliams's historical and critical writing, and the first three McWilliams lectures (Pease 1999; Harding 2000; Hudson 2001) sought to do this. They should be read by everyone involved with the service. In looking here at the issue of probation governance the legacy of Bill McWilliams's thinking, particularly in respect of managerialism, of which he was a prescient critic, has much to offer (McWilliams 1992). Even his historical work has continuing relevance, not least in reminding us that long-forgotten penal measures are occasionally rediscovered. To take a small instance; his article on the mission to the English police courts (McWilliams 1983) discusses 'the cumulative principle' which in the past added many years custody to sentences for those who were deemed persistent 182
In this paper, we draw attention to new assemblages with risk in order to highlight the multiple forms of knowledge and logics at work in new risk assessment practices. We seek to complicate the theoretical explanations of risk by highlighting how risk logics merge and shift in tandem with various rationalities. For example, when risk is merged with need, needs are reconfigured as criminogenic needs but, in this process, risk becomes a fluid concept that can be treated, altered and transformed. When risk is merged with more welfare and disciplinary-based logics, such as rehabilitation and clinical assessments, new forms of risk management are produced, such as targeted treatment. Through these processes, risk's association with actuarial calculations is weakened by other judgments and appraisals. As well, risk takes on more productive ameliorative possibilities, associated with risk minimization. These new assemblages enable new forms of risk-based governance as evident in contemporary correctional case management planning and the accreditation of programmes. This analysis is developed through an examination of the Level of Service Inventory (LSI)-an internationally used risk assessment instrument.