The Reality of Probation

This account focuses on the core of the eternal punishment debate: what alternatives can be formulated and implemented with sufficient rigour to persuade the judiciary not to send offenders to prison, Extensive observation of the process of sentencing was performed and interviews were conducted with 23 members of the judiciary, 86 probationers and 60 probation officers. Using this collected information, the authors detail the tortuous and accident-prone process of successfully recommending a probation order, persuading a member of the judiciary to make it, managing to allocate a supervising officer to the case, and then actually supervising the term of probation. This study presents the first full insider account of just what being on probation actually means; to sentencee, supervisor and probationer. It plumbs the expectations and experiences of the participants, and teases out the meaning of the whole process and practice of probation itself.