This article seeks to explore how probation practitioners may work with young adult offenders (YAOs) to assist them in moving away from crime, by considering how a more desistance and relational focused approach may provide a number of alternative practices that could benefit YAOs. This discussion is formulated on both theoretical and applied grounds, with both authors having experience of working with YAOs, within a probation context in England. Whilst acknowledging that there are numerous ways in which a practitioner can assist an individual with their journey away from crime, this article considers some of these ways, outlining potential challenges.
AllenR (2008) Changing public attitudes to crime and punishment: Building confidence in community penalties. Probation Journal55(4): 389–400.
2.
AmaroHBlakeSSchwartzPFlinchbaughL (2001) Developing theory-based substance abuse prevention programs for young adolescent girls. The Journal of Early Adolescence21(3): 256–264. DOI: 10.1177/0272431601021003002.
3.
AnsbroM (2008) Using attachment theories with offenders. Probation Journal55(3): 231–244. DOI: 10.1177/0264550508092812.
4.
Barrow Cadbury Trust (2005) Lost in Transition. London: Barrow Cadbury Trust. Retrieved from the Transition to Adulthood website. Available at: http://www.t2a.org.uk/publications/#all (accessed 21 November 2014).
5.
BarryM (2006) Youth Offending in Transition: The Search for Social Recognition. Oxon: Routledge.
6.
BarryM (2007) Listening and learning: The reciprocal relationship between worker and client. Probation Journal54(4): 407–422. DOI 10.1177/0264550507083539.
7.
BarryM (2012) Young women in transition: From offending to desistance. In: LöselFBottomsAFarringtonDP (eds) Young Adult Offenders Lost in Transition?. Oxon: Routledge, pp.113–127.
8.
BontaJAndrewsD (2010) Viewing offender assessment and rehabilitation through the lens of the risk-needs-responsivity model. In: McNeillFRaynorPTrotterC (eds) Offender Supervision: New Directions in Theory, Research and Practice. Cullompton: Willan, pp. 19–40.
9.
BordinE (1994) Theory and research on the therapeutic working alliance. In: HorvathOGreenbergS (eds) The Working Alliance: Theory, Research and Practice. New York: Wiley, pp. 113–137.
10.
BottomsAShaplandJ (2011) Steps towards desistance among male young adult recidivists. In: FarrallSHoughMMarunaSSparksR (eds) Escape Routes: Contemporary Perspectives on Life After Punishment. Oxon: Routledge, pp. 43–80.
11.
BottomsAShaplandJCostelloA. (2004) Towards desistance: Theoretical underpinnings for an empirical study. The Howard Journal43(4): 368–389. Available at: http://www.upf.edu/fdret/_pdf/HowardJnlPDF.pdf (accessed 15 June 2014).
12.
BowlbyJ (1944) Forty-four juvenile thieves: Their characters and home lives. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis25: 19–52.
BurnettRMcNeillF (2005) The place of the officer-offender relationship in assisting offenders to desist from crime. Probation Journal52(3): 221–242. DOI: 10.1177/0264550505055112.
15.
BrodieECowlingENissenN. (2001) An empirical framework for studying desistance as a process. Criminology39(2): 491–516. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745–9125.2001.tb00931.x.
16.
CantonR (2011) Probation: Working with Offenders. Oxon: Routledge.
17.
CarlenP (2013) Against rehabilitation: For reparative justice. Criminal Justice Matters91(1): 32–33. DOI: 10.1080/09627251.2013.778760.
18.
CastonguayLConstantinoMHoltforthM (2006) The working alliance: Where are we and where should we go?Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training43(3): 271–279. DOI: 10.1037/0033–3204.43.3.271.
19.
ChiricosTBarrickKBalesWBontragerS (2007) The labelling of convicted felons and its consequences on recidivism. Criminology549(3): 547–581.
20.
DayAWardT (2010) Offender rehabilitation as a value-laden process. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology54(3): 289–306.
21.
DunkelFPruinI (2012) Young adults offenders in juvenile and criminal justice systems in Europe. In: LöselFBottomsAFarringtonDP (eds) Young Adult Offenders Lost in Transition?. Oxon: Routledge, pp. 11–38.
EverallRPaulsonB (2002) The therapeutic alliance: Adolescent perspectives. Counselling and Psychotherapy Research2(2): 78–87.
24.
FaulknerDBurnettR (2012) Where Next for Criminal Justice?Bristol: The Policy Press.
25.
FarrallS (2002) Rethinking What Works with Offenders: Probation, Social Context and Desistance from Crime. Cullompton: Willan.
26.
FarrallS (2004) Supervision, motivation and social context: What matters most when probationers desist?In: MairG (ed.) What Matters in Probation. Cullompton: Willan, pp. 187–209.
27.
FarrallSMawbyRCWorrallA (2007) Prolific/persistent offenders and desistance. In: GelsthorpeLMorganR (eds) The Handbook of Probation. Cullompton: Willan,pp. 352–380.
28.
FarringtonDPLoeberRHowellJC (2012) Young adult offenders: The need for more effective legislative options and justice processing. American Society of Criminology11(4):729–750. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745–9133.2012.00842.x
FitzgibbonDW (2008) Deconstructing probation: Risk and developments in practice. Journal of Social Work Practice: Psychotherapeutic Approaches in Health, Welfare and the Community. 22(1): 85–101. DOI: 10.1080/02650530701872405.
31.
GaddDFarrallS (2004) Criminal careers, desistance and subjectivity: Interpreting men’s narratives of change. Theoretical Criminology8(2): 123–156. DOI: 10.1177/1362480604042241.
32.
GlaserD (1969) The Effectiveness of a Prison and Parole System. Bobbs-Merrill: Indianapolis.
33.
GottfredsonMRHirschiT (1990)A General Theory of Crime. Stanford, CA: University Press.
34.
Hannah-MoffatKShawM (2004) How cognitive skill forgot about gender and diversity. In: MairG (ed.) What Matters in Probation Work. Collumpton: Willan Press, pp. 90–121.
35.
HeddermanC (2004) The ‘criminogenic’ needs of women offenders. In: McIvorG (eds) Women Who Offend. London: Jessica Kingsley, pp. 227–244.
36.
Helyar-CardwellV (2009) Young Adult Manifesto. London: Transition to Adulthood Alliance. Available at: http://www.t2a.org.uk/publications/#all (accessed 3 June 2014).
37.
HopkinsonJRexS (2003) Essential skills in working with offenders. In: ChuiWHNellisM (eds) Moving Probation Forward Evidence, Arguments and Practice. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, pp. 163–180.
38.
House of Commons Hansard (2012a) House of Commons Written Answer (‘Youth Sentencing Policy’), 6February2012, Column 20W.
39.
House of Commons Hansard (2012b) House of Commons Written Answer (‘Crime – Ethnic groups’), 6February2012, Column 20W-21W.
40.
HughesW (2012) Promoting offender engagement and compliance in sentence planning: Practitioner and service user perspectives in Hertfordshire. Probation Journal59(1): 49–65.
41.
HyltonJ (2013) The implications of ‘Transforming Rehabilitation’ and the importance of probation practitioner skills, methods, and initiatives in working with service-users. British Journal of Community Justice11(2–3): 165–174.
42.
KazemianLFarringtonDP (2010) The developmental evidence base: Desistance. In: TowlGJCrightonDA (eds) Forensic Psychology. Chichester: Blackwell, pp. 133–147.
43.
KingS (2013) Assisted desistance and experiences of probation supervision. Probation Journal60(2): 136–151.
44.
LancasterELumbJ (2006) The assessment of risk in the National Probation Service of England and Wales. Journal of Social Work6(3): 275–291. DOI: 10.1177/1468017306071176.
45.
LaubJHSampsonRJ (2001) Understanding desistance from crime. Crime and Justice28: 1–69.
46.
LaubJHSampsonRJ (2003) Sharing Beginnings, Divergent Lives: Delinquent Boys to Age 70. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
47.
LewisS (2014a) Learning from success and failure: Deconstructing the working relationship within Probation practice and exploring its impact, using a collaborative approach. Probation Journal2. DOI: 10.1177/02645505145238161.
48.
LewisS (2014b) Exploring positive working relationships in light of the aims of Probation, using a collaborative approach. Probation Journal4. DOI: 10.1177/0264550514548249.
49.
LipseyM (1995) What do we learn from 400 research studies on the effectiveness of treatment with juvenile delinquents?In: McGuireJ (eds) What Works: Reducing Reoffending Guidelines from Research and Practice. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 63–78.
50.
LöselFBottomsAFarringtonDP (2012) Introduction. In: LöselFBottomsAFarringtonDP (eds) Young Adult Offenders Lost in Transition?Oxon: Routledge, pp. 1–10.
51.
McGuireJPriestleyP (1995) Reviewing ‘What Works’: Past, present and future. In: McGuireJ (eds) What Works: Reducing Reoffending Guidelines from Research and Practice. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 3–34.
McNeillF (2006) A desistance paradigm for offender management. Criminology and Criminal Justice6(1): 39–62. DOI: 10.1177/1748895806060666.
54.
McNeillFAndersonKColvinS. (2011) Kunstprojecten en What Works; een stimulans voor desistance?’ (Inspiring Desistance? Arts projects and What Works?)Justitiele verkenningen37(5): 80–101.
55.
MarunaS (2000) desistance from crime and offender rehabilitation: A tale of two research literatures. Offender Programs Report4(1): 1–13.
56.
MarunaSFarrallS (2004)Desistance from crime: A theoretical reformulation.Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie43(2):171–194.
MarunaS (2001) Making Good: How Ex-convicts Reform and Rebuild Their Lives. Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
59.
MarunaSRoyK (2007) Amputation or reconstruction? Notes on the concept of ‘knifing off’ and desistance from crime. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice23(1): 104–124. DOI: 10.1177/1043986206298951.
60.
MarunaSImmarigeonRLeBelTP (2004) Ex-offender reintegration: Theory and practice. In: MarunaSImmarigeonR (eds) After Crime and Punishment: Pathways to Offender Reintegration. Cullompton: Willan, pp. 3–26.
MatthewsBHubbardD (2007) The helping alliance in juvenile probation: The missing element in the ‘What Works’ literature. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation45(1–2): 105–122.
National Offender Management Service (NOMS) (2006) The NOMS Offender Management Model. London: Home Office.
67.
National Offender Management Service (NOMS) (2011) Practice Framework: National Standards for the Management of Offenders: For England and Wales. London: Ministry of Justice.
OkimotoTWenzelMFeatherN (2009) Beyond retribution: Conceptualizing restorative justice and exploring its determinants. Social Justice Research22(1): 156–180.
71.
OrsiMLaFortuneDBrochuS (2010) Care and control: Working alliance among young adolescents in authoritarian settings. Residential Treatment for Children and Youths27(4): 277–303.
PriorDFarrowKHughesN. (2011) Maturity, Young Adults and Criminal Justice: A Literature Review. Birmingham: University of Birmingham. Available at: http://www.t2a.org.uk/publications/#all (accessed 1 September 2014).
75.
Reitzel-JaffeDWolfeDA (2001) Predictors of relationship abuse among young men. Journal of Interpersonal Violence16(2): 99–115. DOI: 10.1177/088626001016002001.
76.
RobinsonG (2005) What Works in offender management?Howard Journal of Criminal Justice44(3): 307–318. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468–2311.2005.00374.x.
ShaplandJBottomsAMuirG (2012) Perceptions of the criminal justice system among young adult desisters. In: LöselFBottomsAFarringtonDP (eds) Young Adult Offenders Lost in Transition?Oxon: Routledge, pp.128–145.
82.
SmithD (2004) The uses and abuses of positivism. In: MairG (ed.) What Matters in Probation. Cullompton: Willan, pp. 34–52.
Transition to Adulthood (T2A) Alliance (2012) Pathways from Crime: 10 Steps to a More Effective Approach for Young Adults Throughout the Criminal Justice Process. London: T2A Alliance. Available at: http://www.t2a.org.uk/publications/#all (accessed 3 August 2014).
85.
Transition to Adulthood (T2A) Alliance (2013) Taking Account of Maturity A Guide for Probation Practitioner. London: T2A Alliance.
86.
TrotterC (2009) Pro-Social Modelling. European Journal of Probation1(2): 142–152.
87.
WardT (2010) The Good Lives Model of offender rehabilitation: Basic assumptions, aetiological commitments, and practices implications. In: McNeillFRaynorPTrotterC (eds) Offender Supervision: New Directions in Theory, Research and Practice. Cullompton: Willan, pp. 41–65.
88.
WeaverBMcNeillF (2007a) Desistance. In: CantonRHancockD (eds) Dictionary of Probation and Offender Management. Cullompton: Willan, pp. 90–92.
WeaverBMcNeillF (2010) Travelling hopefully: Desistance research and probation practice. In: BrayfordJCroweFDeeringJ (eds) What Else Works? Creative Work with Offenders. Cullompton: Willan, pp. 36–60.
91.
WrightJPCarterDECullenFT (2005) A life-course analysis of military service in Vietnam. Journal of Research in Crime and Deliquency42(1): 55–83. DOI: 10.1177/0022427804270436.
