ABSTRACT
This chapter considers case management in probation and then moves to a discussion of multi-agency work, and in particular the work intended to protect the public from harm and reduce reoffending by persistent offenders. It also considers the emergence of the idea of offender management and its link with managerial and bureaucratic approaches to probation work. Case management is an influential paradigm in many practice settings, but its procedures and priorities cannot be assumed to be the same for other agencies. The Offender Management Model was intended to create an 'end-to-end' process, including an individualised combination of interventions and experiences in which different service providers made their distinctive contributions. Case management, originating in social work and community health care, emerged as the guiding strategy to provide coherent services. Punitivism is dismissive of the idea of offender rights, while a managerial approach is over-focused on the instrumental objectives of reducing risk.
