ABSTRACT
It is surprising how few studies of probation define what probation ‘is’, what it consists of, what its purposes are or how it could be expected to achieve these purposes. One of the most succinct definitions was provided by the United Nations half a century ago (1951: 4): ‘probation is a method of dealing with specially selected offenders and . . . consists of the conditional suspension of punishment while the offender is placed under personal supervision and is given individual guidance or "reatment"’ Of course, this definition is now somewhat past its ‘best before date’. Amongst other changes during the period since the UN document was written, probation in England and Wales has, since 1991, been a sentence of the court in its own right, rather than a ‘suspension of punishment’, and there has, of course, been a gradual move away from individualised treatment towards group-based interventions.
