ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a pilot study undertaken by one of the working groups of an EU-funded COST Action on Offender Supervision in Europe. It focuses on those common themes that were more frequently expressed and which, based on a reading of the existing literature, and might be considered most surprising or challenging for probation researchers and practitioners. Messiah 10's image then is clearly one of constraint; punishment demands 'obedience'. The chapter highlights that themes that might seem obviously positive (like growth) or negative (like constraint, waste or judgment) are in fact ambiguous. Findings suggest that both legitimacy and utility may allow supervision to become productive. Interview based methods are less effective in bringing the experience of supervision to life partly because they too closely resemble meetings with supervisors; experience of using visual methods is that they significantly alter the dynamics of engagement with research.
