Probation and social exclusion

The paper begins with a brief discussion of the value of the term "social exclusion", before drawing an quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) evidence to suggest that young people on the caseload of the probation service are, in general, excluded from the full range of social goods. The basis of this exclusion is not only in poverty and unemployment, but in social and personal insecurity, lack of access to the benefits of education and training, and housing and health problems. It is argued that despite their exclusion these young people have predominantly conventional hopes and aspirations, and that there is therefore no reason to believe that a programme for their social inclusion and reintegration would be doomed to fail. The paper then reviews some aspects of present practice in probation which may tend to increase rather than reduce the exclusionary pressure on those with whom the service works, by stigmatizing and marginalizing them through a narrow focus on their offending. It concludes by suggesting strategies for more inclusionary and integrative practice in the areas of anti-custodialism, restorative justice and reintegrative shaming, community safety, and help with access to education, training and health services. The paper considers what local inter-agency structures are needed to support intensive work on offending, and sketches some characteristics of a probation service committed to social inclusion.