The Assessment of Risk in the National Probation Service of England and Wales

Abstract

Summary: This article focuses on the National Probation Service of England and Wales and explores the dominance of a particular approach to risk assessment. Reference is made to other areas of social work practice.

Findings: The article starts with a description of probation practice in relation to the assessment of risk using the current risk/needs assessment tool, the Offender Assessment System (OASys). The article explores the distinction between risk of reconviction and risk of harm and the use of static and dynamic factors in assessment. It then moves to a consideration of issues arising in two areas. The first of these is the relationship between risk and concepts of proportionality and fairness within the justice system. The second area for consideration is some implications of the dominance of a particular form of risk assessment in the National Probation Service specifically in respect of the knowledge base of assessment; motivation; and the distinction between defensible and defensive judgements about risk made by individual practitioners.

Applications: A preoccupation with the technicalities of risk assessment has encouraged the overshadowing of proportionality and the erosion of the rights of ‘risky’ offenders. A rights-based, rather than a risk-based, emphasis in criminal justice innovations might redress the balance. An approach which explores protective factors, rather than risk factors, is worthy of consideration.