Rethinking What Works with Offenders

This book reports on a major investigation into the outcomes of probation supervision, and is concerned to address the key question of what works in probation. Drawing upon an extensive range of research and data, it examines the processes that occur during probation supervision which are either conducive to desistance from offending, or which contribute to further offending.In doing so, Rethinking What Works with Offendersseeks to understand probation work from the perspective of those who deliver it, and those to whom it is delivered;analyses how probation works, reconceptualising probation outcomes in terms of degrees of success rather than as 'successful' or 'unsuccessful'; andassesses the policy implications of these findings and conclusions.Rethinking What Works with Offenders presents a challenging range of findings, and will be essential reading for anybody professionally concerned with the present and future of probation and community sentencing.

Stephen Farrall is a Research Fellow in the Department of Criminology, Keele University.