PROBATION JOURNALPub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.1177/02645505231200125
Nicola Carr
{"title":"Should I stay or should I go? What to do about the probation staffing crisis","authors":"Nicola Carr","doi":"10.1177/02645505231200125","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505231200125","url":null,"abstract":"After the turbulence of years of reforms and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Probation Service for England and Wales, in common with other public sectors faces a staffing crisis. The latest workforce data released by HMPPS, and the MoJ in August 2023 shows that there has been an increase in staff working within the Probation Service over the past year (13.2%). This is largely due to the recruitment drive for new trainees and the expansion of the PQiP training programme, which has seen new providers come onstream. However, despite the opening up of the recruitment pipeline, the workforce statistics point to a continued shortfall in staffing numbers and a concerning trend of more experienced staff departing the service. The workforce data reports that the number of Probation Service Officers (PSOs) have increased by almost a fifth in the past year (19%), largely due to PQiP recruitment. However, the number of Probation Officers working in the service has decreased over the past year and follows a longer-term trend of the departure of more experienced staff. PQiP trainees work as PSOs during their training, so a proportion of the existing PSO cohort will transition to Probation Officer roles, but the issue of staff retention remains a concern. While the number of Senior Probation Officers (SPOs) has increased, there have been rising rates of PSO resignations over the past year and there is still a substantial shortfall in the number of Probation Officers required:","PeriodicalId":45814,"journal":{"name":"PROBATION JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135248712","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PROBATION JOURNALPub Date : 2023-09-01DOI: 10.1177/02645505231198495
Emeritus Professor Mike Nellis
{"title":"Book review: The Honest Politician’s Guide to Prisons and Probation","authors":"Emeritus Professor Mike Nellis","doi":"10.1177/02645505231198495","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505231198495","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45814,"journal":{"name":"PROBATION JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134914392","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PROBATION JOURNALPub Date : 2023-08-02DOI: 10.1177/02645505231191455
Matt Cracknell
{"title":"Comment piece: The inspection of Offender Management in Custody – new resettlement policy, same old problems","authors":"Matt Cracknell","doi":"10.1177/02645505231191455","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505231191455","url":null,"abstract":"Two inspection reports regarding the latest resettlement policy – Offender Management in Custody – have recently been published (HM Probation Inspectorate and HM Prison Inspectorate, 2022; HM Inspectorate of Probation, 2023). This comment piece provides a brief analysis of these inspection reports, which demonstrates how Offender Management in Custody is undermined by five issues: a fixed and fragmented model of delivery; poor identification of needs and service provision; poor quality keywork; understaffing in prisons and probation; and finally, poor communication between prison and probation practitioners. This comment piece then places these failures into context, asserting that there has been a longstanding ‘common thread’ of issues that has undermined past resettlement policies and that these have permeated through to Offender Management in Custody. This commentary concludes by suggesting a possible way forward with the Offender Management in Custody model, noting that no resettlement policy will be successful unless the staffing crisis in prisons and probation is resolved, and the practitioners responsible for Offender Management in Custody are provided with sufficient time and resources to provide quality resettlement support.","PeriodicalId":45814,"journal":{"name":"PROBATION JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48709245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PROBATION JOURNALPub Date : 2023-07-10DOI: 10.1177/02645505231182822
Matthew Millings, Lol Burke, Harry Annison, N. Carr, Gwen Robinson, Eleanor Surridge
{"title":"A necessary but painful journey: Experiences of unification in a probation service region","authors":"Matthew Millings, Lol Burke, Harry Annison, N. Carr, Gwen Robinson, Eleanor Surridge","doi":"10.1177/02645505231182822","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505231182822","url":null,"abstract":"In this article, we present some initial findings from the first year of a longitudinal study of the experiences of unification by staff in one Probation Service region. Their reaction to unification is explored as well as their hopes and fears regarding the newly unified service. Despite working in what was often presented as an unsettled and fractured environment marked by on-going staff shortages – whilst at the same time having to respond to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic – amongst most participants there remained a high level of loyalty to the probation profession (or the idea of probation). However, while many expressed optimism regarding the longer-term prospects for the unified organisation, this was also overlaid with concerns about how unification would play out in the short to medium term. Their enduring sense of commitment and loyalty to their role was also being tested by what some saw as overbearing pressure to manage risk, coupled with the fear of being exposed if people whom they supervised committed a Serious Further Offence.","PeriodicalId":45814,"journal":{"name":"PROBATION JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43558655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PROBATION JOURNALPub Date : 2023-06-02DOI: 10.1177/02645505231178306
Zarek Khan
{"title":"The challenges of re-entry for men and women under probation supervision","authors":"Zarek Khan","doi":"10.1177/02645505231178306","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505231178306","url":null,"abstract":"The literature on probation supervision has paid significant attention to prisoner reintegration into society. Many of these studies are based on retrospective samples of ex-prisoners as their primary analytical focus. Research studies on the early transitions from prison to the community have predominantly examined men's experiences. This article explores the experiences of a small group of men and women serving their sentences in the community while under probation supervision. Drawing on interview extracts, it is argued that probation practices hinder, rather than support, post-release necessities for men and women seeking to reintegrate into society. The article highlights the implications for future research on probation supervision and re-entry.","PeriodicalId":45814,"journal":{"name":"PROBATION JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"65090701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PROBATION JOURNALPub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1177/02645505231174747
Liz Dixon
{"title":"Book review: Reimagining Probation Practice: Re-forming Rehabilitation in an Age of Penal Excess","authors":"Liz Dixon","doi":"10.1177/02645505231174747","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505231174747","url":null,"abstract":"Reimagining Probation Practice is the third book in an evolving series about desistance and rehabilitation. The first two volumes explore McNeil’s desistance theory and his four forms of rehabilitation, the personal, the moral, the social, and legal or judicial rehabilitation. This third volume continues to explore desistance, but the book’s focus is actual probation practice. The book describes the main themes and job functions of probation and explains how the work can be reimagined and reformed for the better. Each chapter includes a brief critical history of a key area of probation practice and the authors highlight opportunities to promote desistance, drawing on the four domains. The authors are front-line practitioners and academics, which gives them greater appeal and credibility. The editors present a compelling analysis of the challenges in the reunified probation service. They conclude that the policy changes over the last few decades have gradually impinged upon effective practice and the relational processes necessary to help people ‘get sorted’. The editors go on to highlight the risks of correctional rehabilitation. The importance of social reintegration and social justice reverberates throughout the book. Readers are invited to think about desistance as not just an individual process or journey but rather a social movement. There is an appeal to probation workers to consider the moral dimensions of the work rather than moralise and then seek to create a dialogue to repair relationships and make reparation. The implication is that a focus on personal rehabilitation is inadequate – we need to commit to social, moral, and legal/judicial rehabilitation. This is helpful and gives a clear vision about how things could be if there was a greater commitment to rehabilitation. Book review The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice","PeriodicalId":45814,"journal":{"name":"PROBATION JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49581248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PROBATION JOURNALPub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1177/02645505231184543
N. Carr
{"title":"Politicisation of parole","authors":"N. Carr","doi":"10.1177/02645505231184543","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505231184543","url":null,"abstract":"Evidence of increased political over-stepping into practice in the criminal justice domain was seen in the changes made to the Parole Board Rules, in June 2022, which prohibited staff employed or engaged by HM Prison and Probation Service making a recommendation in their reports regarding whether a prisoner was suitable for release or transfer to an open prison (a step on the pathway towards eventual release). Further changes also envisage that the Secretary of State could present a ‘single view’ on the suitability of a prisoner for release in what were referred to as ‘top tier cases’ specified according to offence, which is to say those most likely to garner public attention. The changes to the Parole Board rules were widely criticised. NAPO observed that precluding recommendations undermined the professional judgement and role of probation staff in parole proceedings. It also should be noted that in any event the ultimate decision regarding prisoner release or transfer to an open institution rested with the Parole Board, and that any recommendations from professionals formed part of an overall assessment taken in the round. Preventing a probation practitioner from making a recommendation in this context made no sense. The main justification put forward by government for the rule change was that it did not want to see a situation where a government employee, such as a probation officer or an HMPPS psychologist, put forward a view on release that would potentially be at variance with the Secretary of State for Justice’s view. However, this blurring of executive and administrative functions, alongside the overall ‘reasonableness’ of the changes, have been the subject of a legal challenge. In a judgement on the matter the High Court has held that the Secretary of State’s changes to the Parole Board rules were unlawful on two main grounds. Firstly, on the basis of improper interference by the Secretary of State in the Parole Board proceedings, and secondly because there was a lack of adequate justifications put forward for the changes. In a bruising assessment, the judgement notes the following:","PeriodicalId":45814,"journal":{"name":"PROBATION JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44034503","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PROBATION JOURNALPub Date : 2023-06-01DOI: 10.1177/02645505231174265
A. Robinson
{"title":"Book review: Alex’s Dad Goes To PrisonTyler Does Not Have Contact With His Dad In PrisonBethy’s Mum Is In Prison","authors":"A. Robinson","doi":"10.1177/02645505231174265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/02645505231174265","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45814,"journal":{"name":"PROBATION JOURNAL","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45588218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}