Beyond what works : how and why do people stop offending?

The author explores a comparative analysis of social work models for engendering change in criminal behaviors among offenders in Scotland

Offender management in Scotland: the first hundred years

Set within the contexts of probation's upcoming centenary in Scotland (in 2005) and the current debate about the future of criminal justice social work in Scotland, this article provides a very brief account of the history of probation in Scotland, focusing on the rarely discussed period between 1905 and 1968. As a defence against the narrowing of our visions in the future, the article pieces together abd seeks to understand significant changes in Scottish probation's core identity and purpose from providing supervision as an alternative to punishment, through providing 'treatment' and then 'welfare' services as a means of reforming offenders, to managing offenders so as to protect the public. The article concludes that the current debate in Scotland should shift from 'second order' questions around organisational arrangements to ''first order' questions around which aspects of these various purposes and identitirs should endure in the 21st century

A new paradigm for social work with offenders?

In an influential article published in 1979, Bottoms and McWilliams proposed the adoption of a 'non-treatment paradigm' for social work practice with offenders. Their argument rested on a careful analysis not only of empirical evidence about the ineffectiveness of rehabilitative treatment but also of theoretical, moral and philosophical questions about such interventions. By 1994, emerging evidence about the potential effectiveness of some intervention programmes was sufficient to lead Raynor and Vanstone to suggest significant revisions to the 'non treatment paradigm'. In this article, it is argued that a different but equally relevant form of empirical evidence - that derived from desistance studies - suggests a need to reevaluate these earlier paradigms for criminal justice social work practice

Probation, credibility and justice

This paper explores the difficulties that arise for probation agencies or those that deliver community sanctions in developing and maintaining their credibility in prevailing ‘late-modern’ social conditions. It begins by questioning the limits of the pursuit and promise of ‘public protection’ as a source of credibility, and then proceeds to examine the emergence of an alternative strategy – based principally on reparation and ‘payback’ – in Scotland, arguing that these Scottish developments have much to say to the emerging debates in England and Wales (and elsewhere) about the ‘rehabilitation revolution’ and the proper use of imprisonment. The paper provides a critical account of the development and meaning of the Scottish version of ‘payback’, linking it to some important philosophical and empirical studies that may help to steer the development of payback away from a ‘merely punitive’ drift. In the conclusion, I argue that probation agencies and services need to engage much more deeply and urgently with their roles as justice services, rather than as ‘mere’ crime reduction agencies

Giving up crime: directions for policy

Describes eight principles for supporting desistance in criminal justice

Choice versus crisis: how Scotland could transform the way we think about prisons and punishment

In late 2007, and in the face of a high imprisonment rate and unmitigated growth in the prison population over the past decade, Scotland’s Cabinet Secretary for Justice launched an independent commission to consider the use of imprisonment in Scotland and to raise the public profile of this issue. The Scottish Prisons Commission was Chaired by former Scottish First Minister, the Rt. Hon. Henry McLeish, and comprised a mixed group of criminal justice and civic leaders. The Commission reported in July 2008

Reexamining evidence-based practice in community corrections: beyond 'a confined view' of what works

This article aims to reexamine the development and scope of evidence-based practice (EBP) in community corrections by exploring three sets of issues. Firstly, we examine the relationships between the contested purposes of community supervision and their relationships to questions of evidence. Secondly, we explore the range of forms of evidence that might inform the pursuit of one purpose of supervision—the rehabilitation of offenders—making the case for a fuller engagement with “desistance” research in supporting this process. Thirdly, we examine who can and should be involved in conversations about EBP, arguing that both ex/offenders’ and practitioners’ voices need to be respected and heard in this debate

21st century social work: reducing re-offending - key practice skills

This literature review was commissioned by the Scottish Executive’s Social Work Services Inspectorate in order to support the work of the 21st Century Social Work Review Group. Discussions in relation to the future arrangements for criminal justice social work raised issues about which disciplines might best encompass the requisite skills for reducing re-offending in the community. Rather than starting with what is known or understood about the skills of those professionals currently involved in such interventions, this study sought to start with the research evidence on effective work with offenders to reduce re-offending and then work its way back to the skills required to promote this outcome