Positive reinforcement is a key part of probation practice, and linked to client desistance from offending. The main way practitioners positively reinforce clients’ prosocial comments or behaviours is through praising them. However, praise is tricky in interaction, as...
The Jersey Supervision Skills Study
In Swansea University we have a long-standing interest in the effectiveness of probation practice and have made a number of contributions to the ‘What Works?’ literature, including an early evaluation of a cognitive-behavioural programme (Raynor and Vanstone 1997)...
Youth Justice in Jersey: Options for change
The Report is grounded in the wider research on youth justice and a review of the services offered to young people who break the law in Jersey. Accordingly, two questions are posed. Firstly, what does research tell us about the essential principles that should...
Jersey Revisited: reflections on the influence of a policy review on youth justice in an island microstate
In 2010 the authors were members of a team which was invited to carry out a review of youth justice policy and practice in the Channel Island of Jersey. This article describes the process of the review, its major recommendations, and what happened as a result....
The impact of skills in probation work: A reconviction study
This article reports on the results of a quasi-experimental study of practitioners’ skills in probation work. Videotaped interviews were produced by a group of probation officers and analysed by researchers using a checklist designed to identify the range of skills...
Observing Interview Skills: a manual for users of the Jersey Supervision Interview Checklist
This manual is a product of the research on supervision skills and offender engagement currently being carried out by Swansea University staff in collaboration with the Jersey Probation and After-Care Service. This is one of a number of studies done by Swansea...