Over the festive season I re-read a book by Mark Leech, which had not only left an indelible impression, but had greatly influenced my professional approach to working with people in and out of the prison system.
Finding the time to dip into esoteric criminal justice journals can be somewhat challenging, but lighting upon the angry prose of committed scholarship makes the effort of trying so much easier.
One of the more challenging casework experiences I recall was assuming statutory responsibility for supervision on an order (imposed for offences of assault) already underway.
As a subscriber to Probation Journal, I find it rewarding to pore over some of the more incisive articles on changes in supervisory practice and the professional relationships that underpin meaningful engagement with service users.
I recently started to selectively read pages from a book that I had hidden away for another day.
Having previously read with avid interest some of the rich ethnographic writings of criminologist Dick Hobbs, I spent a relaxed afternoon dipping into his latest book, The Business.
The forensic psychiatrist Dr. Gwen Adshead comments with striking professional humility in a coda to her recent remarkable book, The devil you know.
One of my abiding pleasures in recounting past accounts of my probation career is to read writers whose accessible scholarship offer fresh insights on the workings of the criminal justice system.
Since retiring from the probation service, I have remained a seasoned observer of the relentless organisational reforms visited on it from what has often appeared governmental whim.
As a devotee of judicial memoirs, I recently read a refreshingly honest, lively and engaging biography of a maverick pioneer of US drug and problem-solving courts, Judge Jeffrey Tauber.
Breaking Out is Janice Nix's unsparingly honest account of her transformative journey from serial offender and drug dealer to working with the Probation Service in London.
Having taken a few hours off from festive activities I reached for a richly original, challenging and accessible criminology book by Jason Warr that I had resisted picking up for some time.
