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COST Action Offender Supervision in Europe 

The work of COST Action IS1106 on Offender Supervision in Europe began on 27th March 2012 at a ‘kick-off’ meeting in Brussels and it concludes with the final conference, back in Brussels, on the 11-12th March 2016. This report reflects on the achievements over the course of four years of complex, challenging, creative and highly constructive research collaboration.

 

The main objective of the Action is to exchange, increase and deepen knowledge about offender supervision in Europe, in order to understand its development in social context, how it is constructed and experienced by those involved and its impacts and consequences.

The central rationale for the work was that offender supervision in Europe has developed rapidly in scale, distribution and intensity in recent years but that the emergence of what we termed ‘mass supervision’ (i.e. in the community) had largely escaped the attention of legal scholars and social scientists more concerned with the ‘mass incarceration’ reflected in prison growth. Argument was that this represented an important analytical lacuna for law and social science. Moreover, the neglect of supervision meant that research had not delivered the knowledge urgently required to engage with political, policy and practice communities grappling with delivering justice efficiently and effectively in fiscally straitened times, and with the challenges of communicating the meaning, legitimacy and utility of supervision to an insecure public.

Our knowledge of Interagency Coorperation

When considering the rehabilitation of persons who have committed a crime resulting in imprisonment, a critical stage of the process is when they are released to the community. This is an important moment of transition when the person needs support in several areas of his/her life. Research indicates that this transition management is crucial in the rehabilitation process. Interagency cooperation is necessary to make this process successful.

Related News

Check out the latest news and updates on this project’s focus area.

New

Probation in Europe

New Division episode: Daniel Wolter on the DBH Federal Association

23/02/2026

The 18th episode of Division_Y features Daniel Wolter, Director of the DBH Federal Association for Social Work, Criminal Law and Criminal Policy, based in Cologne, Germany.

New

Victims rights

European Day for Victims of Crime

23/02/2026

Yesterday, 22 February, marked the European Day for Victims of Crime.

At CEP, we recognise that crime causes harm to individuals and communities. Probation work focuses on accountability, rehabilitation and reducing reoffending, contributing to the prevention of further victimisation.

CEP Board

Interview with new CEP board member Jana Bewersdorff

19/02/2026

During the General Assembly in Austria, a new CEP Board got elected for the upcoming three years. In the coming weeks we will publish interviews with all newly-elected board members where they will share information on their professional background, how they would like to contribute, what challenges lie ahead and many more.

Enjoy reading!

Recap

Research

Recap: Expert group on Research

18/02/2026

The Expert Group on Research met on 17 February at the CEP office in Utrecht, The Netherlands, for its annual face‑to‑face meeting.

New

CEP members

New CEP member: Killian Evert

17/02/2026

In recent weeks, CEP has interviewed individual members and representatives of the new member organisations that joined CEP at the beginning of 2026. In these interviews, the new member organisations or individual members will share information on why they decided to become members, how they would like to contribute to the development of CEP and many more.
Enjoy reading!

New

CEP Board

Interview with new CEP board member Line Elisabeth Wilberg

11/02/2026

During the General Assembly in Austria, a new CEP Board got elected for the upcoming three years. In the coming weeks we will publish interviews with all newly-elected board members where they will share information on their professional background, how they would like to contribute, what challenges lie ahead and many more.

Enjoy reading!

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