NCJ Number
243557
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 51 Issue: 5 Dated: December 2012 Pages: 474-487
Date Published
December 2012
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This brief article is intended to begin to fill this gap by exploring how the Troubles impacted on probation practice during the Conflict and beyond.
Abstract
The conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles presented numerous challenges for the administration of traditional forms of criminal justice and has led to a variety of adaptations that have been widely discussed in the literature in criminology and transitional justice. The role of Northern Ireland's probation service is often forgotten or ignored in such analyses. This brief article is intended to begin to fill this gap by exploring how the Troubles impacted on probation practice during the Conflict and beyond. In particular, the authors argue that the 'neutrality stance' taken by probation in the mid-1970s, when officers decided to cease mandated work with individuals charged with 'politically-motivated' offences, has had a lasting impact on the identity and role of probation in the region. The deep immersion into, and engagement with, marginalized communities during this time, facilitated by this neutrality stance, has overlooked implications for probation practice more widely in the United Kingdom and abroad. Abstract published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons.