This book is about change. It is about the effect of changes in the criminal justice system and society in general upon the organization and everyday work of the probation service in England and Wales. These changes include a collapse in confidence in the treatment or rehabilitation model of probation work, and the actions of a Conservative government determined to create a punitive correctional service in the community.

The author traces paradigm, political and organizational changes; explores how they are interpreted and implemented in probation service policy; and analyzes the effects of policy shifts and how they are percieved by probation staff. The author moves from the general to the specific: from the nature of these changes to an examination of their consequences within one probation service which, for the purposes of anonymity, is called "Treen". The book also analyzes the work of probation personnel in different work settings; and considers the appropriateness of the recent administrative changes in relation to the everyday realities of probation work.