Rehabilitation, punishment and profit: The dismantling of public-sector probation

Abstract

Probation has been nurtured and developed for over a century as the key cornerstone of our community justice system in England and Wales. However, a fundamental transformation in the way in which offenders are managed in the community is underway. After 106 years of rehabilitative intervention, the Probation Service is about to be dismantled - at least, in its traditional public sector incarnation. On 9 May 2013, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling formally confirmed the Conservative-Liberal Democratic coalition government's plans to privatise the majority of probation work by 2015. While few would argue with the principle of supporting rehabilitation, there was controversy over both how this could be achieved and which agencies might deliver it. The privatisation of probation was viewed as a key component of the government’s “rehabilitation revolution”.