ABSTRACT
In Scotland, community based disposals are run by local authority social workers, who have been responsible for the provision of a range of statutory services to the criminal justice system since the absorption of the former probation service into the newly created generic social work departments in 1969. The introduction of 100 per cent funding by central government formed one part of a broader strategy aimed at reducing the numbers of offenders who were imprisoned for short periods of time. Initially, probation was an informal procedure whereby a court would allow an individual a specified period in which to prove that they could act in a law-abiding manner if given the guidance of a responsible person. It can be argued that these somewhat imprecise requirements have endured because they allow the maximum possible scope to probation supervisors and thereby continue to permit probation orders to be made in a wide range of circumstances.
