European Journal of Probation
Call for papers

The probation service in England and Wales is facing the most fundamental shake up in its history. Under the provisions of the Offender Rehabilitation Bill 2013 the 35 existing probation trusts will be replaced by 21 Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and a the vast majority of probation work transferred to the private sector as lead providers in a competitive commissioning process.  A new national public probation service will be established to deliver the remaining 30% of cases involving public protection and high–risk offenders. In this planned special edition of the European Journal of Probation the implications of this wholesale privatisation of probation will be examined and whether or not this is merely another  case of England and Wales ‘exceptionalism’ (Tonry, 2004) or the shape of things to come in other jurisdictions. Contributions are encouraged considering the following:

• What are the limits of the criminal justice ‘markets’
• What are the social, economic, political and cultural contexts which make some European countries more susceptible or resistant to privatisation.
• How do ideas and conceptualisations of the relationship between the state and the citizen in the form of the ‘social contract’ differ between jurisdictions
• How is the ‘institution’ of probation viewed in different jurisdictions and how significant is this to its survival.

Submissions of between 4,000 to 8,000 should be sent to Lol Burke who is Guest editor for this edition at  [email protected] by 15th of October 2013. Further guidance for authors can be found on the EJP web site www.ejprob.ro/ . If you wish to discuss potential submissions beforehand also please contact Lol Burke at [email protected]

Ioan Durnescu
Editor, European Journal of Probation

Special Issue on Consent and Cooperation of Offenders under Supervision
April 2014- No. 3/2014

“A community sanction or measure shall only be imposed when it is known what conditions and obligations might be appropriate and whether the offender is prepared to co-operate and comply with them.” (European Rules on Community Sanctions and Measures, No. 31)

“As far as possible, the probation agencies shall seek the offender’s informed consent and cooperation in decision-making on matters of implementation.” (European Probation Rules, No. 6)

How to actively involve an offender in a probation process is a key issue for probation work. Both rules cited above emphasise that seeking an offender’s cooperation and the question of his or her (informed) consent are closely related to that involvement and eventually the outcome of the supervision process. The underlying values are human dignity and autonomy – an offender under probation or other forms of supervision must never be seen as a mere object of supervision but taken seriously as a person.

Both these aspects, the active involvement of the offender as someone who ‘has a say’ in the probation process as well as consent and cooperation as a human rights question, seem to have lost ground in times of increased punitivity and discussion focussed on risk and effectiveness. In this planned special issue of the European Journal of Probation we invite contributions to consider various questions in this context– either with regard to a certain jurisdiction (for example, how the need for seeking the offender’s consent has developed over time, how it is implemented in practice, for what interventions it is needed) or with a focus on certain problems or interventions (for example in the pre-trial phase, with regard to community service or therapeutic interventions). Theoretical contributions would also be very welcome.

 

Indications of interest and proposed title and/or a short abstract should be sent to Christine Morgenstern or Gwen Robinson who are Guest editors for this edition at [email protected] or [email protected] by 31 January 2014. Final submissions of up to 8,000 words should be sent by1 June 2014. Further guidance for authors can be found on the EJP web site www.ejprob.ro/ . If you wish to discuss potential submissions beforehand also please contact Christine or Gwen.