ABSTRACT
This chapter explores practitioner narratives and institutional cultures within the Tasmanian criminal justice field, with particular reference to key organisations that are responsible for supporting rehabilitation and reintegration. The central themes of culture and the social dynamics of change emerge as principal concerns. Criminal justice practitioners are quick to explain differences between perceptions of their work and what they really do in practice, emphasising how their work spans more issues and activities than is reflected in official and empirical accounts. Navigating negative change and difficult work are juxtaposed with a commonly observed desire to be at the forefront of instigating positive change and to craft work identities associated with job satisfaction. It is these strengths, individually and institutionally, that are identified here to aid the recognition that such things are not peripheral to the work of supporting rehabilitation and reintegration, but are essential facets or ingredients in realising 'the best of what is' in the present and moving forwards.
