From Paradigm to Practice in a Special Probation Project

Summary Between January 1980 and December 1982, a team of probationofficers in South Yorkshire attempted a new approach to probationpractice. The project arose initially out of the ideas put forwardin Bottoms and McWilliams (1979) ‘A Non-Treatment Paradigmfor Probation Practice’, but the team members developeda version of the paradigm which in many respects differed markedlyfrom the original. In this paper, their statutory work is describedwith particular reference to their social enquiry practice andto their attempted separation of the care and control aspectsof probation orders.     

Negotiating Alternatives to Custody: a Quantitative Study of an Experiment in Social Enquiry Practice

Summary Between january 1980 and December 1982, a team of probationofficers attempted a new approach to probation practice whichhas been described in an earlier article. The present articleoutlines the types of social enquiry reports which resultedfrom the experiment, and in a quqntitative analysis of the team'sreports, compares the relationship between recommendation andoutcome in the different types. Indications of the effect onsentincing of recommendations for a strict reporting style ofprobation order are examined.