A Non-Treatment Paradigm for Probation Practice

Empirical and theoretical critiques of treatment can no longer be ignored in probation practice, but the probation service's traditional core values of respect for persons and hope for the future can be realized in a non-treatment context. Four traditional aims of the probation service are identified, namely (i) the provision of appropriate help for offenders; (ii) the statutory supervision of offenders; (iii) diverting appropriate offenders from custodial sentences; (iv) the reduction of crime. It is argued that each of these aims remains worth pursuing, but that they need radical reconceptualization in the light of the collapse of treatment A paradigm for practice in respect of each aim is offered for criticism and comment