Intensive supervision of persistent and serious offenders in the community has experienced a revival of interest in recent years in England and Wales. Some initiatives, such as the Prolific and other Priority Offenders Programme, and the Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme for juveniles, have been adopted on a large scale. These schemes have had two main aims: to reduce re–offending and to provide an alternative to custody. Evaluations of the projects have shown mixed results, however, and not provided robust evidence of success. The article discusses these findings and suggests that it may be more profitable to consider alternative aims for intensive supervision, such as public protection, proportionate punishment, and offender rehabilitation.
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