Introduction

The brief outline of changes to probation in Chapter One indicated an element of discord between successive governments and probation practitioners in relation to the appropriate purpose and value of the services provided by the Probation Service. In order to provide some context to our interest in probation workers’ views of Transforming Rehabilitation (TR), the online survey first asked respondents to explain why they joined the service and subsequently to discuss their views of its purposes and values. We were keen to find out what the value base of our respondents was and how this might affect their perceptions of the proposed changes under TR. The underlying themes emerging from the survey were normative, concerned with probation values, purposes and practices. These were evident in responses to the questions ‘Why did you join the Probation Service?’ and ‘Do you think the Probation Service is underpinned by a particular set of values?’.

Joining the Probation Service

The question on joining the Probation Service was open-ended and 942 respondents answered this question. Answers varied significantly in length, from single-word statements to lengthy explanations. The initial ‘cloud’ thematic analysis identified the following categories: 21% of respondents identified ‘working with people’; 20% identified ‘helping people’; 19% identified ‘work with offenders’; 11% identified ‘protect the public’; 9% identified ‘assist people’; and 6% identified ‘work in criminal justice’. A number of other categories were identified, including an interest in the job, a desire to work for probation, job security, reducing the number of victims and increasing safety. As respondents were able to give as many reasons as they wished to this open question, any individual could have mentioned any number of the aforementioned answers.

It is clear that the majority of respondents joined the Probation Service for a combination of the most-frequently cited reasons just identified, namely, a desire to ‘work with people/offenders’ (occasionally ‘clients’) in a manner generally aligned to offering ‘help’ and ‘assistance’. Indeed, 22 respondents (2%) explicitly mentioned the strapline ‘advise, befriend, and assist’ to explain their reasons for joining probation. The purpose of this help was the rehabilitation of those being supervised by the service. This was based on a firm belief in the ability of individuals to change and in the Probation Service's ability to facilitate that change.