The Design, Implementation and Consequences of 'Transforming Rehabilitation'

This is my written evidence to the Justice Committee's parliamentary inquiry into reorganisation of the probation service, published by the Committee on www.parliament.u

From ‘nothing works’ to ‘post-truth’: The rise and fall of evidence in British probation

Since its origins over half a century ago, evaluative research on probation services has swung between optimism and pessimism. This article, based largely on England and Wales, describes and reviews the long journey from over-optimism, via ‘nothing works’ in the 1970s, to programmes based on Risk-Need-Responsivity principles, introduced on a large scale from the late 1990s but limited in their impact owing largely to problems in implementation. After this, evaluation researchers developed greater interest in implementation, in organisational culture and, in particular, in practitioners’ skills. In the process, researchers have developed a better understanding of the necessary social science methods for evaluation and have begun to learn from new sources such as desisting former offenders. In the meantime, in spite of encouraging research, the political context in some countries has become hostile, and research has to survive in a new context of ‘post-truth’ and politically motivated denigration of expertise. </jats:p

Locality, legitimacy and the limits of diversion: Reviewing youth justice in Jersey

This article is based on the authors’ involvement in two reviews of Jersey's youth justice system, carried out in 2010 and 2018. The reviews provide fresh insights into the process of moving towards a child-first, rights-informed youth justice system; the potential of traditional community justice to be used as a vehicle for diversion, particularly when such culturally embedded practices enjoy public support; and the need to adapt strategies to the limitations of local conditions and resources in order to ensure feasibility. These findings support and amplify the conclusions of recent research on how localities can shape youth justice