Envisaging Probation in 2030

We in the CEP are happy to collaborate with our partners across the world. One of our partners is ICPA*.

The authors hope to stimulate debate on several topics including effective practice and the interaction between probation services and their communities to strengthen rehabilitative cultures, opportunities and processes supportive of desistance, and the strength of communities themselves. The authors also consider what factors encourage success in probation capacity building and a related question of strengthening international learning and practice and knowledge exchange. In asking these questions they take account of global initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals, the influence of regional organisations including the Council of Europe, and the diversity of regions, nations and jurisdictions, for example in judicial and political climate. The authors will return to many of these questions in a report to follow based on their current research.

The subject of the article is important enough to extend the audience via the CEP network. Further, in their article the authors stress the imperative of building a closer and more intense working relationship worldwide of regional and other representative umbrella organisations for probation. As a sign that in CEP we share and implement this idea, we asked permission from the editor of Advancing Corrections, Dr. Frank Porporino, to reprint this article in CEP’s Newsletter. We thank ICPA for their agreement and we are pleased to quote Frank’s remarks made in his Foreword to Edition 11-2021 of Advancing Corrections:

Steve Pitts & Leo Tigges know about the workings of probation and community corrections much beyond the borders of where they live. They summarize what we know about effective practice, outlining the array of evidence and international practice guidance that underpins much of the work of probation, but while recognizing what Fergus McNeill and others have pointed to astutely that “Desistance is bigger and broader than a professional practice process.” The paper acknowledges that there is a possible ‘pessimistic’ scenario should economies unravel post-Covid and ‘monitor & control’ ideologies begin to strengthen. However, the paper excels in setting forth the steps that could be taken in arriving at the more optimistic scenario. As the Authors summarize, that scenario would mean that “In envisioning 2030, we aspire to a situation in which community-based provision has a substantially higher profile than is often now the case…with a significantly greater proportion of cases relative to prison than at present…(and where) services have sufficient and well-trained staff…who manage risk and compliance in ways that are procedurally just…embrace technology positively and engage fully with communities, including volunteers…(and where) ….global learning is supported by improved sharing and policy exchange, informed by research…including service user co-production…,(and) guided by international standards that reflect human rights and are sensitive to global diversity.”

ICPA* International Corrections and Prisons Association

http://www.icpa.org

Click here to access the full report.