Reflection and Resistance: Probation Practice and the Ethic of Care

This article discusses the nature of practice in social work and criminal justice. Reporting on a small study involving fifteen experienced probation officers, it considers how they responded to an environment that has changed drastically from the ‘clinical’ mode of practice in which they trained to the ‘punitive managerial’ mode of practice in which they were working at the time of the interviews. The study concludes that experienced professionals use their abilities as reflective practitioners to resist the worst excesses of punitive managerialism. Continuing their commitment to balancing the demands of justice and care, they develop a practice that is not merely the straightforward application of technique, but is based upon their relational skills and abilities to develop constructive working relationships with service users.