ABSTRACT
In June 1999 a group of probation practitioners, voluntary sector managers, teaching consultants and research staff were commissioned to design, develop and implement a groupwork programme specifically for minority ethnic offenders being supervised by the Greater Manchester Probation Area (GMPA). Significantly, the undertaking of this journey exposed the organisation to a number of challenges to the ways GMPA intervened with its Black and Asian service users. 1 The process also challenged the organisation to revisit a number of theoretical, cultural and practice perspectives that facilitated a re-engagement with the strategic premise upon which interventions for minority offender groups were based. The development and implementation process came to fruition in the Spring of 2000 with the pilot of the Black Offender Groupwork Programme. Simultaneously, national developments were apace to provide evidence of What Works for Black and Asian offenders resulting in the development and piloting of four Pathfinder groupwork models. The practice and cultural interplay between the local probation area and the National Probation Directorate (NPD) introduced an additional set of variables, which significantly ‘influenced’ the delivery of services within the local area. Importantly, within GMPA there has always been a standpoint that views the pursuit of effective practice as an enterprise that is reliant upon the continuous exploration and validation of probation practice and research. Moreover, it is only through engagement with this enterprise that the organisation can claim to be responsive to the needs of the offenders and communities that it serves.
