Understanding Community Penalties : Probation, Policy and Social Change

by Raynor, Peter; Vanstone, Maurice

• ISBN13: 9780335206254
• ISBN10: 0335206255
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-07-01
• Publisher: Open University Press

Summary

* What are community sentences for?* How has the theory and practice of community supervision developed?* What kind of impact has research evidence had on policy and practice?* Can community sentencing help offenders and protect the public at the same time?Understanding Community Penalties provides a concise and critical understanding of community sentences in relation to policy, practice and research. Coverage of these three contexts is a distinguishing feature of the book, which takes a comprehensive approach informed by the authors' long involvement in this field. It begins by examining the role and function of community sentences, and how they challenge the framework of thinking about punishment in the criminal justice system. The book then traces the historical development of the theory and practice of community supervision, and shows what impact the first wave of research into its effectiveness has had on policy and practice. In the context of the penal crisis in recent years and the construction of crime as a political issue, a critical assessment is made by the authors of the achievements of, and problems facing, community sentencing, and they address the questions facing sentencers, politicians, policy makers and practitioners. In particular, they consider whether current organizational structures and divisions are appropriate for the purposes of punishing and helping in the community those who offend. In all, this authoritative text will be essential reading for students of criminology and criminal justice, and an invaluable reference for researchers and practitioners in the criminal justice system.

Author Biography

Professor Peter Raynor is the author of Social Work, Justice and Control which was one of the most widely used general texts on Probation of the 1980s, and of Probation as an Alternative to Custody which was one of the first UK studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of probation programmes. He is professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice in the School of International Development and Social Science at the University of Wales, Swansea.

Dr Maurice Vanstone is the co-author of Betrayal of Trust, a widely discussed study of professionals who abuse children, and co-author of Beyond Offending Behaviour. During a long career in the Probation Service he directed an experimental day centre and also managed an area research programme. He is now senior lecturer in Criminology and Criminal Justice in the School of International Development and Social Science at the University of Wales, Swansea.

Table of Contents

Series editor's foreword	viii
Acknowledgements	x
Introduction	1	(10)
Probation, rehabilitation and socio-political change	3	(3)
Some new directions	6	(1)
Structure of the book	7	(3)
Further reading	10	(1)
The origins of community sentences	11	(20)
The orthodox histories	12	(6)
The concept of recognizance	12	(1)
The role of Matthew Hill and Edward Cox	13	(1)
John Augustus, the first probation officer?	14	(1)
The Church of England Temperance Society	15	(1)
The social and political context	16	(2)
A revised account	18	(11)
From individualism to individualization	19	(1)
The psychology of the individual	20	(2)
Eugenics	22	(1)
The Howard Association	23	(1)
The language of humanitarianism	24	(2)
Christian charity	26	(2)
Other forms of community sentence	28	(1)
Conclusion	29	(1)
Further reading	29	(1)
Notes	30	(1)
Good intentions and probation practice	31	(21)
`Advise, assist and befriend'	31	(7)
The treatment model	38	(3)
The non-treatment paradigm	41	(4)
The new rehabilitation paradigm	45	(3)
Beyond offending behaviour	48	(2)
Conclusion	50	(1)
Further reading	51	(1)
Notes	51	(1)
Does anything work? The emergence of an empirical critique	52	(15)
Rethinking probation at least twice	54	(3)
Evaluating probation in the `treatment' era	57	(2)
Probation research in the era of diversion	59	(2)
Some easily forgotten lessons from the past: how diversion succeeded	61	(2)
How diversion worked with adults and was then abandoned	63	(3)
Further reading	66	(1)
Too soft on criminals? Community sentences and populist punitiveness	67	(15)
The politicization of crime	68	(3)
From inclusion to exclusion: the new political order	71	(2)
The penal crisis	73	(3)
The rehabilitation of community sentences	76	(1)
A more accountable Service	77	(3)
Conclusion	80	(1)
Further reading	81	(1)
Notes	81	(1)
More punishment or more effectiveness? How some things work	82	(18)
The rebirth of rehabilitation	83	(1)
The research behind the new rehabilitation	84	(5)
Cognitive-behavioural approaches	85	(1)
Research reviews and meta-analysis	86	(1)
Research on high-risk offenders	87	(1)
General lessons	88	(1)
The emergence of programmes for probationers	89	(6)
The STOP programme	89	(4)
Pathfinder programmes, accreditation and the National Probation Service	93	(2)
Risks, needs and effective case management	95	(3)
Risk/need assessment: prospects and possibilities	98	(1)
Further reading	99	(1)
Note	99	(1)
Community penalties today	100	(16)
An overview of current community sentences	101	(2)
Enforcement and breach	103	(1)
The government's aims for criminal justice	104	(2)
A new sentencing policy?	106	(1)
Community safety and community justice	107	(1)
Risk, justice and diversity	108	(3)
Reintegration and legitimacy	111	(2)
Rehabilitation and community interests	113	(1)
Learning from social work?	114	(1)
Further reading	115	(1)
Conclusion: a future for community sentences?	116	(12)
A rational probation service	117	(2)
Penal policy: populism or evidence	119	(1)
Punishment or reintegration?	120	(1)
A sustainable criminal justice policy	121	(2)
Community penalties and the needs of future societies	123	(5)
References	128	(17)
Index	145