Perpetrator Supervision and the Impact on Women and Children: The Privatisation of Probation

A blogpost in response to the 2018 HM Inspectorate of Probation report into work undertaken by CRC organisations with perpetrators of domestic abuse and the risk to victims.

At the end of 2013 an article I wrote was published in the British Journal of Community Justice, a Special Edition: Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) Under the Microscope. In this article I considered the risks inherent within the TR model, and the impact this would have on women and children as it would jeopardise the work undertaken with perpetrators of abuse by highly skilled, qualified probation officers In September 2018 HM Inspectorate of Probation found poor practice was widespread within the privatised section of probation, that is Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs). Inspectors found probation staff within these organisations did not have the skills, experience or time to supervise perpetrators properly.