Compliance with community penalties

Compliance with community penalties is a neglected area of empirical and theoretical enquiry. This chapter focuses on the data generated from a study that explored the nature of compliance with community penalties. The study found that interactional processes through which probation officers engage with probationers to manage a range of situational, structural and practical factors may produce (or impede) compliance. Central to these processes is the individualised approach to securing compliance that also facilitates the judicious use of professional discretion.