Probation and Victims

Articles and other resources on probation's work with victims of crime.

New Staffordshire crime-fighting partnership praised by Justice Secretary

from the article by Sonya Britton iin This Is Staffordshire On a visit to Staffordshire's new integrated crime-fighting hub, Justice Secretary Lord McNally met former offenders, victims of crime, and staff from police, probation and drug treatment agencies. And Lord McNally was impressed at the joint working shown by the 180° Integrated Offender Management partnership, which aims to help tackle the most challenging and prolific offenders in Staffordshire in an integrated way.

Increasing restitution for crime victims: A toolkit

from the entry by Jeanette Moll on Right on Crime: The National Center for Victims of Crime recently released a “Restitution Toolkit,” which provides state agencies and external organizations information on instituting or furthering restitution opportunities for crime victims. The information is in-depth and comprehensive, including:

Johnston, Peter. "Probation Contact with Victims: Challenging Through-Care Practice"

Victim enquiries are set to become an established feature of good through-care practice, despite the ambivalence that many staff still feel about this kind of direct involvement with victims and their families. Peter Johnston, Senior Probation Officer responsible for victim enquiries in part of West Yorkshire, details the provisions of Probation Circular 61/1995: Probation Service Contact with Victims, addresses some areas of ambiguity and commends West Yorkshire’s approach using specialist staff.

Smit, J.. "The Role of Probation in Restitution Procedures."

This article discusses the role of probation in restitution procedures. The author firsts outlines briefly the Dutch context of the probation services. Secondly, the significance of compensation and restitution are considered from a theoretical frame of reference of social order,. Third, the results of an investigation among probation officers aimed at identifying their contribution in these procedures are presented. Finally, an attempt is made to picture the future role of probation.