Is Probation Work Social Work?

Abstract

This article seeks to ask the question: Is probation work social work? It arises from the authors' involvement with UK and NZ probation services over the last 16 years and from conversations with probation staff in New Zealand, who, in the main, believe in a social work value and skill base for probation. Yet, when one considers the shifts in aims, philosophies and practices of probation work in New Zealand, from altruistic and benevolent origins, to current correctional and authoritarian auspices, it is sometimes hard to see what social work has to offer. This piece, in promoting a debate on this issue, will explore key aspects of probation's traditional alliance to social work, how things have changed, what probation staff currently think and some key questions for future dialogue and research.