What Matters in Probation

The What Works initiative is having a profound impact on the work of the National Probation Service, and much has been invested in new accredited programmes - both in terms of the numbers of offenders planned to complete these programmes and their anticipated impact upon offending. Yet there has been little scholarly or professional discussion of the nature and risks of the new paradigm: it is important that it is subjected to critical debate and scrutiny. This book aims to provide a critical overview of What Works, providing a wider set of perspectives on a project which is vital for the future of the National Probation Service.

1. Introduction: What Works and what matters, George Mair 2. The origins of What Works in England and Wales: a house built on sand? George Mair 3.The uses and abuses of positivism, David Smith 4. Dangerous thinking: a critical history of correctional cognitive behaviouralism, Kathleen Kendall 5. How cognitive skills forgot about gender and diversity, Margaret Shaw and Kelly Hannah-Moffat 6. The barking dog? Partnership and effective practice, Judith Rumgay 7. Getting tough or being effective: what matters? Carol Hedderman and Mike Hough 8. Beyond programmes: organisational and cultural issues in the implementation of What Works, Hazel Kemshall, Paul Holt, Roy Bailey and Gwyneth Boswell 9. Supervision, motivation and social context: what matters most when probationers desist? Stephen Farrall 10. Community reintegration: for whom? Jon Spencer and Jo Deakin 11. Community service as reintegration: exploring the potential, Loraine Gelsthorpe and Sue Rex 12. What Works: a view from the chiefs, George Mair 13. Purposes matter: examining the 'ends' of probation, Gwen Robinson and Fergus McNeill 14. Getting personal: developments in policy and practice in Scotland, Gill Mclvor 15. What Works and the globalisation of punishment talk, Anne Worrall

George Mair is Professor of Criminal Justice at Liverpool John Moores University.