Comment
A volatile probation relationship
Often when reading criminological tomes, a phrase or reference will leap out from the pages to evoke a memory of past probation practice.
Comment
Memorable speakers from my time in probation
It was whilst poring over the pages of Dan Werb's unsettling book, 'City of Omens', a troubling narrative of femicide on the US/Mexican borderlands, that I recalled a time in my probation career when my role in the union, Napo entrusted me with arranging guest speakers at branch meetings.
Comment
A busy morning in probation
Whilst I was reading Michael Tonry's timely and humane critique of many of the more damaging and unjust policies and practices of punishment and sentencing in the US justice system, a phrase jolted my memory of my time working in probation.
Comment
Surviving on the prison discharge grant
Having recently read an important and stimulating addition to the literature on prisoner re-entry I was sharply reminded of a past experience which centred on one of the many practical challenges of coping after release from prison.
Comment
Tunes from another time
I suppose it was almost inevitable when I was reading a recently published and presciently informed book on risk control in criminal justice, that two pertinent terms in particular, risk and existential uncertainty, resonated most uncomfortably with me in the current all enveloping coronavirus pandemic.
Comment
Coronavirus: Early release of prisoners
The announcement of early releases from prisons in England and Wales is a welcome sign that the seriousness of the COVID-19 infection risk is being acknowledged, though how far, and how thoroughly, is still open to question.
Comment
'Solving crimes is a lot easier than solving people'
Jason Hardy's compelling and revelatory account of working on the front line for the New Orleans Probation and Parole Department, evoked many memories.
Comment
A life interrupted
Having just read a keenly awaited book that offers a lively and compellingly original scholarly foray into sentencing research, Sentencing: A Social Process: Re-thinking Research and Policy by Cyrus Tata, I was particularly struck by a phrase he used in the book, 'demographic distance’, denoting the experiential and social distance between those caught up in criminal proceedings and the professionals working in the court setting.
News
Our Director in Probation Quarterly
Read Richard Garside on accidental liberalism and criminal justice trends
The latest edition of Probation Quarterly features a piece by our Director, Richard Garside, on criminal justice trends in retrospect and their signification of a flawed, accidental and incomplete liberalism.
Tackling fluctuating police numbers, the dangerous condition of...
Podcasts
Mike Guilfoyle reflects on his time as a probation officer
This week Neala talks to long-term friend of the Centre, Mike Guilfyole, about his time as a probation officer.
Comment
Ending up with 20 years in the Big House
I recently read a challenging but stimulating scholarly book by David Hayes - Confronting Penal Excess. Retribution and the Politics of Penal Minimalism.
News
In the news this week
Our Director, Richard Garside, has been quoted in the New York Times and The Times this week.
In the aftermath of the terrorist attack on London Bridge last week by Usman Khan, The New York Times quoted Richard on sentencing policy. On the controversy surrounding Mr...