ABSTRACT
The criminal justice system in England and Wales creates ‘involuntary clients’: individuals who are sentenced to receive rehabilitative services. This chapter begins by reviewing the history of court-ordered rehabilitation. It then sets out the issues raised by court-mandated programmes of intervention and help, discussing issues such as consent and motivation. The particular focus of the chapter is on the work of the probation service, but it also draws on long-standing discussions about coercion and rehabilitation from the areas of drug treatment and mental health. The chapter explores (following the argument made by) the ways in which practitioners can secure the consent and participation of involuntary clients (e.g. taking seriously ideas about openness, active cooperation, and legitimacy). It highlights factors likely to lead back to duress and coercion. The chapter is illustrated with data from a research study exploring the experience of individuals subject to probation supervision and sentenced to receive a variety of services intended to address the problems and needs that had led them to get into trouble. The chapter concludes that, while the involuntary nature of probation supervision is inescapable, there can be ways of working that respect the rights of clients and guard against abuse and coercion.
