Probation is a sentence that takes place within the community rather than a prison. The offender is supervised by a designated probation officer who oversees the offender and enforces any conditions placed upon them by the court. It emerged as a response to the strict uniformity of penal institutions and is a move towards the individualisation of sentencing, as punishment can be tailored to the individual needs of the offender (McLaughlin and Muncie, 2001). Probation was also a response to the overriding penal concern in the 1970’s, which lasted until the early 1990’s, of reducing the prison population, this led to the introduction of an array of alternatives to custody, with the assumption that their existence would enable the courts to use imprisonment more sparingly (Newburn, 2013).
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This essay will critically analyse how approaches and ideas from the criminological theories of abolitionism and desistance have been applied and in some cases ignored, within the policies and practice of
This essay will critically analyse how approaches and ideas from the criminological theories of abolitionism and desistance have been applied and in some cases ignored, within the policies and practice of