Abstract

This article reports the results of a research study which treated offenders as ‘consumers’ of probation work. The study aimed firstly to gather offenders’ views of the effectiveness with which probation officers dealt with their practical problems and, secondly, to understand how far the probation service was perceived as helpful or unhelpful in meeting their psychosocial difficulties. Respondents’ views of other community agencies were also elicited. By identifying some of their problems and showing how probation officers work with them, the study lends support to the view that probation work can reduce crime through rehabilitative and reintegrative strategies, as well as through a more narrowly based focus on stringent reporting and offending behaviour.