The 15th edition of the Irish Probation Journal was recently launched at the 23rd of November 2019. In this edition you will read about different projects and ongoing research in a range of areas including problem solving justice, risk assessment, service design and community engagement. 

Given the recent developments with promoting and embedding the victim perspective within criminal justice, it is fitting that the opening paper from the Martin Tansey Memorial Lecture series is focused on the need for a more humane approach to crime that begins with the victim experience. T he inclusion of articles from Probation practice across the world is now a regular feature of the journal and this year’s article from Japan, with its unique focus on volunteers as part of probation practice will prompt reflection on the benefits and challenges of integrating the voluntary and the statutory. Staying with the voluntary theme, the complexities of the relationship between the voluntary and criminal justice sector are outlined in a paper that raises a number of critical questions and demonstrates the need for further debate and research in this area.

International expertise is also visible in an article on Service Design, a collaboration between the Royal College of Art in London and the University of Koln.  An article on Problem Solving Courts, based on studies in the USA gives a comprehensive overview of practice in substance misuse and mental health problem solving courts that highlights the benefits of therapeutic jurisprudence for offenders, victims
and communities.

The Journal has been jointly published each year since 2004, by the Irish Probation Service and the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) and plays an important role in stimulating innovative thinking, providing a forum for debate and dialogue and promoting the sharing of good practice.

Click on the link to read the Irish Probation Journal Volume 15.