Research: Supervision Skills for Probation Practitioners

The use of evidence-based practice in the attempt to improve probation’s impact on reoffending became a mainstream policy following the ‘Underdown report’ produced by HM Inspectorate of Probation in 1998. Initial efforts were largely based on cognitive-behavioural group programmes. However, most people supervised by probation officers experience supervision as one-to-one contacts most or all of the time, and some of those who participate in programmes also need preparation, support and follow-up on an individual basis. The identification of practitioners’ skills in individual supervision as an important component in effective practice came late to England and Wales in comparison with work done in other countries. This ‘Academic Insight’ offers a brief summary of key findings from research on probation staff’s practice skills (known in North American research as Core Correctional Practices) and considers some of the practical implications. In the well-known Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) framework for effective practice, research on skills contributes to understanding responsivity, which has until recently received less research attention than risks and needs.

Please click on the link to read ‘Supervision Skills for Probation Practitioners’ by Peter Raynor.