Continuity and Change: Probation and Politics in Contemporary Britain

Abstract

This paper considers the implications for the British probation service of new penological demands being made of it by Government. Three relevant political trends are identified. It is concluded that if, in spite of ideological disagreement, the service extends its traditional professional concerns to include engagement in relevant issues of contemporary politics, there is hitherto unimaginable scope for it to help shape the criminal justice agenda of the future.