Probation Journal

Serious further offences are rare but represent catastrophic harm to the public by people under probation supervision. Where cases had previously been identified at high risk of harm and there are significant failings in their management, independent reviews are commissioned. Surprisingly, learning from these reports has received scant attention, with the last review 20 years ago. To address this, a pre-registered systematic search was carried out, identifying 37 reports of reviews of offences committed in the UK, published between 2005 and 2024. These reports were reviewed, drawing on the rapid evidence assessment approach, and antecedent behaviours were qualitatively synthesised.

This paper presents findings from an exploratory study undertaken with Department of Probation personnel in Thailand. The goal was to examine staff perspectives, experiences and practices regarding the support of women (formerly imprisoned for breaching illicit drug law) on electronically monitored (EM) parole. According to government rhetoric, EM parole should be rehabilitative, assist reintegration and operate per human rights standards and norms. This includes gender-responsiveness, as delineated in the United Nations Bangkok Rules. Yet, gender was mostly elucidated as immaterial and at best, women received nominal support from a probation service labouring ‘from the heart’ with limited funding and high workloads.

Recent government inspections have highlighted the importance of considering neurodiversity across the criminal justice system to ensure that neurodivergent individuals are not at a disadvantage. Community sentence treatment requirements (CSTRs) are treatment options available to sentencers as part of a community or suspended sentence. These aim to address underlying concerns that may contribute to offending behaviour. Recent work has looked how to increase accessibility of CSTRs to neurodivergent individuals. The recommendations stemming from this work are described.

Motivation towards academic study typically includes a combination of intrinsic factors, for example personal development, interest/enjoyment of the subject and extrinsic reasons, for example employability or status. This article explores issues in supporting learners on the Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) who may lack intrinsic motivation towards the academic degree due to its ‘mandated’ nature. Drawing on Trotter’s concept of ‘involuntary clients’ and experience of working with PQiP learners, a tentative typology of engagement is proposed and reflection is encouraged on how Trotter's principles may be applied to maximise engagement in an educational setting.