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The probation service's work with sex offenders: findings and implications of a thematic inspection
Author(s) -
Collier Ann
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
child abuse review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.569
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1099-0852
pISSN - 0952-9136
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-0852(199811/12)7:6<391::aid-car522>3.0.co;2-1
Subject(s) - prison , criminology , psychology , work (physics) , service (business) , thematic analysis , sex work , sociology , qualitative research , engineering , medicine , business , mechanical engineering , social science , family medicine , marketing , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv)
This article summarizes some of the key findings of a report (HM Inspectorate of Probation, 1998) of an inspection of the work of the probation service in England and Wales with sex offenders. The inspection took place at a time of unprecedented public debate and concern about the nature and impact of sexual offending, but this focused attention on a few high‐profile individuals rather than the majority of sexual offenders who assaulted victims that were known to them. For the purposes of the inspection, 10 probation areas were visited at the beginning of 1997 and a similar inspection programme was followed in each area, comprising observation of group work, examination of over 300 pre‐sentence court reports, a similar number of case files on offenders subject to supervision on probation orders and following release from prison and interviews with probation staff and representatives from a variety of other agencies. Although there had been research relating to community‐based probation programmes previously in this country, this concentrated on group work programmes, which, in reality, are attended by a minority of sex offenders under supervision. This inspection examined and assessed for the first time a far broader spectrum of the work of probation officers with sex offenders. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.