Comment

Good in installments

A piquant phrase caught my attention in Hugh Ryan’s remarkably engrossing book, The Women’s House of Detention, a forgotten prison that once stood in New York City’s Greenwich Village.

20 January 2023
Comment

You're prison bound

Sometimes books leave you with uncomfortable after-effects of outrage and disgust.

18 December 2022
Comment

Unbidden memories

It was with keen anticipation that I read a newly-published book, Reimagining Probation Practice.

17 November 2022
Comment

How long have you been sober?

Thumbing through Judith Rumgay’s refreshingly original study of pathways out of offending for women offenders, who passed through the residential programmes run by the Griffins Society, I recalled that I once enlisted her to speak at a rally that I had organised in my capacity as a Napo (Probation union) representative.

14 October 2022
Comment

Medication, medication

Patrick Radden Keef's unforgettable 2021 book is a gripping story of the Sackler family, responsible for making and marketing Oxycontin, a prescribed painkiller that was a catalyst for the opioid crisis in the USA.

16 September 2022
Comment

A day like no other

Occasionally a book centred on an aspect of criminal justice practice evokes a compelling impulse to shout out: “Read this heartfelt memoir and reflect well on its contents”.

18 August 2022
Comment

In the dock

One of my more challenging early probation supervisory experiences involved working with Rahim (not his real name), after he was placed on a probation order for various offences of dishonesty.

15 July 2022
Comment

In your face

Sometimes I light upon a book that evokes an array of emotions and leaves a lasting impression.

9 June 2022
Comment

Probation in Ukraine, nothing like this

One of the pleasures of reviewing books for the Probation Journal is the discovery of literary gems that not only enliven the reader but evoke memories of former probation practice.

5 April 2022
Comment

Out on the patch

I recently read a book that covers, with an impressive historical sweep, some of the tumultuous changes imposed on the Probation (and Prison) Services by, often poorly evidenced, politically driven reorganisations.

10 March 2022
Comment

Dodging passing traffic

"I often wondered if, stumbling upon a service user in cardiac arrest, my immediate reaction would be to administer CPR or to update their risk assessment".

10 February 2022