Probation Journal

Rapport-based supervision in probation is linked to positive behavioural change and reduced reoffending for probation service users. However, the process of rapport building is not well documented in probation practice. This study conducted focus groups and interviews with London-based probation practitioners to understand their views of rapport when supervising service users. Thematic analysis generated five themes related to how practitioners facilitated rapport building and maintenance, as well as several barriers that exist towards building and maintaining rapport – these were conceptualised as a rapport-building process. We provide recommendations to help alleviate barriers and further facilitate the rapport-building process.

This article analyses the impact of Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation on practice, providers and practitioners. Since 1936 HMI Probation has aimed to improve practice through independently inspecting probation services. However, no research has looked at its impact on those it inspects. This is important not only because the evidence on whether inspection improves delivery in other sectors is weak but also because oversight has the potential to create accountability overload. Following a brief overview of the history, aims and policy context for probation inspection the article presents data from interviews with 77 participants from across the field of probation. Overall, participants were positive about inspection and the Inspectorate. However, the data suggest that inspection places a considerable operational burden on staff and organisations and has real emotional consequences for practitioners. Staff experience case interviews as places for reflection and validation but there is less evidence of the direct impact of inspection on practice. Ultimately, the article argues that inspection can monitor practice whilst also contributing to improving practice and providing staff with a way to reflect on their work, yet this balance is difficult strike. Finally, the article considers the implications of these findings for the Inspectorate and the probation service.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) position on Online Child Abuse Activist Groups (OCAGs), more commonly referred to as ‘paedophile hunters’, is that their motivation should be questioned since there is no positive advantage to policing. The problematic nature and inaccuracy of the term ‘paedophile hunter’ will be explored within this article, but the term is widely used in practice. Such activism increases risk to potential victims, the suspect and to the efficiency and effectiveness of criminal justice processes ( NPCC, 2018). The Probation Service (PS) has no formal position regarding the activity. Yet public fascination with those convicted of sexual offences against children and the appetite for naming and shaming these individuals is not a new phenomenon. The rise in popularity of the internet and the surge in content available online is more recent, and so is the problem of threat exceeding capacity. But what are the views of practitioners on this issue? Using in-depth qualitative interviews with police and probation practitioners, this paper examines how ‘paedophile hunting’ activity has become a concept in the management of sexual offending in England and Wales, and for the first time, reveals the views and attitudes of professionals working on the front line.

This study aims to explore the partner link worker (PLW) role in supporting women who have been subjected to or at risk of domestic abuse. Prior research in a probation setting tends to focus solely on the person on probation, failing to examine the experiences of people subjected to crime and support services on offer. The PLW role provides an essential service that has been undervalued and overlooked. The study begins to provide some evidence to counter the broader political rhetoric that people subjected to crime are central to probation practice within the criminal justice system. It draws on the findings from thirteen semi-structured interviews conducted across five Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). The findings suggest that PLWs demonstrate a professional commitment to protecting and safeguarding vulnerable women and addressing domestic abuse. However, PLWs face many challenges and obvious gaps in provisions to provide a fully inclusive and accessible service to meet the individual needs of women and their children. The recently reunified probation service offers an optimum opportunity to review, resource and regenerate the PLW service to protect and safeguard people who have been subjected to or at risk of domestic abuse.

As a subject of study in higher education, criminology has never been more popular; and yet, criminologists occupy an increasingly marginal position within political and media spheres. This marginalisation has arguably been to the detriment of those with lived experience of the criminal justice system, an oppressed class whose number has grown exponentially after several decades of a ‘tough on crime’ consensus on criminality. While much research focuses upon the impacts on imprisonment, an emergent literature has highlighted how individuals experience community sanctions and measures (CSM). This article utilises Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed to accentuate the transformative potential of teaching and learning practises within criminology, and CSM in particular. It applies his writings to the literature on ‘public criminology’, a perspective that aims to render the field more transparent, applied, evidence-based, empowering, and committed to social justice. Drawing from personal reflections as an ‘academic criminologist’ engaged in teaching and research on CSM, the article advocates for a ‘pedagogy of public criminology’ that empowers students, as future criminal justice professionals, with the skills to be public-facing, active, and critical subjects who can make a difference in the lives of individuals subject to CSM.