Probation, people and profits: the impact of neoliberalism

Abstract

Probation's original reintegrative ethos is being eroded by neoliberal policies and the formation of a systematically marketised environment. There can now be little doubt that a momentous cultural shift is being engendered as probation is propelled swiftly down the road of privatization. The pace of change is fast. While this is a partial privatization (those assessed as posing the highest risk remain subject to public sector supervision), the eventual endgame of neoliberal political philosophy may be total privatization. Regardless of the rehabilitative rhetoric, the reality may be that the privatization of probation is about the deprioritisation of rehabilitation and penal-welfare intervention.