scholarly journals Professionalism, Payment by Results and the Probation Service: A Qualitative Study of the Impact of Marketisation on Professional Autonomy

2021 ◽  
pp. 095001702110038
Author(s):  
Matt Tidmarsh
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Professional Autonomy ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Community Rehabilitation ◽  
Probation Office ◽  
Probation Service ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Privately Owned

This article utilises Foucauldian understandings of the sociology of the professions to explore how marketising reforms to probation services in England and Wales, and the implementation of a ‘Payment by Results’ (PbR) mechanism in particular, have impacted professional autonomy. Drawing on an ethnographic study of a probation office within a privately owned Community Rehabilitation Company, it argues that an inability to control the socio-economic organisation of probation work has rendered the service susceptible to challenges to autonomy over technique. PbR was proffered as a means to restore practitioner discretion; however, the article demonstrates that probation staff have been compelled to economise their autonomy, adapting their conduct to conform to market-related forms of accountability. In this sense, it presents the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms to probation as a case study of the impact of marketisation on the autonomy of practitioners working within a public sector profession.

The right to an audience at court: Realities, risks and challenges. A qualitative study from the perspective of practitioners working in a Community Rehabilitation Company

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Woolford ◽  
Peter Salami
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Probation Officers ◽  
Sentencing Decisions ◽  
Mandatory Training ◽  
Community Rehabilitation ◽  
New Public ◽  
Probation Service ◽  
The Right ◽  
Privately Owned

A fundamental role of the probation service is to provide advice and information to courts assisting in determining the most appropriate sentencing decisions. Historically, all probation officers as part of their mandatory training had experience in a court setting. Under the government’s Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) reforms, probation services were divided into 21 new privately-owned Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) and a new public National Probation Service (NPS). This resulted in the NPS assuming the right to an audience at court by statute and the withdrawal of a right to an audience at court for CRCs. This qualitative study conducted during the summer of 2017 seeks to gain an insight into the views of CRC practitioners on contemporary court practice, specifically exploring their views on not having a professional role to provide advice and information on their caseload in court. The interviews identified four themes, reflecting both barriers to, and facilitators of, the withdrawal of the right to an audience at court by the CRC. These themes illustrated that the initial developments in the courts post-TR did not give the opportunity for active CRC involvement, resulting in increased scrutiny and criticism of their practice.

scholarly journals Probation migration(s): Examining occupational culture in a turbulent field

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lol Burke ◽  
Matthew Millings ◽  
Gwen Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Private Ownership ◽  
Occupational Culture ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
The Public ◽  
Turbulent Field ◽  
Community Rehabilitation ◽  
Probation Service ◽  
The Impact

In June 2014 approximately 54 per cent of the total probation service workforce in England and Wales were transferred to the newly created Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRCs) as part of the government’s plans to establish a market for offender management services. This marked the beginning of one of the largest and most significant migrations of criminal justice staff from the public to the private sector in England and Wales. This article presents findings from an ethnographic study of the formation of one of these CRCs through to the period immediately following the transfer into private ownership. The authors discuss the key features of this migration which are identified as ‘splitting and fracturing’, ‘adapting and forming’ and ‘exiting or accommodation’. It is contended that this development not only has significant implications for the future of probation services but also provides a unique example of the impact on an occupational culture of migration from the public to the private sector.

scholarly journals ‘If the cap fits’? Probation staff and the changing nature of supervision in a Community Rehabilitation Company

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 98-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Tidmarsh
Keyword(s):  
Case Managers ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Probation Officers ◽  
Administrative Staff ◽  
Community Rehabilitation ◽  
Probation Service ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Quantitative Changes ◽  
Privately Owned

This article explores the changing nature of supervision in a Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC) following the Transforming Rehabilitation ( TR) reforms to probation services in England and Wales. Based on an ethnographic study of an office within a privately owned CRC, it argues that TR has entrenched long-term trends towards ‘Taylorised’ probation practice. This is to say that qualitative and quantitative changes to the complexion of practitioners’ caseloads since TR reflect a decades-long devaluation of the probation service and its staff. The decision to allocate most qualified practitioners to the National Probation Service means that Case Managers (i.e. probation service officers) now supervise offenders who would historically have been supervised by Senior Case Managers (i.e. probation officers). This loss of expertise has been exacerbated by administrative staff redundancies at the office. The result is an increasingly standardised and fragmented mode of working within the CRC in which the majority of services are now delivered by the voluntary sector.

scholarly journals Critical language teaching in a dynamic language policy terrain: lessons from the Brazilian Science without Borders student mobility programme

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-388
Author(s):  
Jonathan Luke
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
English Language ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Student Mobility ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Critical Approach ◽  
Science Without Borders ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT This article reports on a case study of English language learning in higher education, considering the impact of language policies embedded within a mobility scholarship programme on the practices of language teachers. Based on a larger ethnographic study following the experiences of several undergraduate members of one cohort of Brazil’s Science without Borders programme for students in science and technological fields, this article describes how several language teachers engaged with the power relations of the frequently shifting policy terrain of the programme. It concludes with a discussion of possibilities for teachers in similar situations who endeavour to take a critical approach to language teaching and explores some of the tactics they might employ against those policies which they see as incompatible with their practices.

scholarly journals The Impact of E-learning on Virtual Class Interactions: A Case Study of French Virtual Class Interactions

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (11) ◽  
pp. 133-140
Author(s):  
Omer Ahmed Omer ◽  
Nadra Abd Allah Ali
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Interaction Rate ◽  
Virtual Class ◽  
E Learning ◽  
The Impact

The current qualitative study aims at exploring and analyzing in a descriptive way the impact of e-learning on different interactions forms in French virtual class in order to strengthen the students’ engagement in this type of class. The problem that we encounter when it comes to French virtual class is the lack of spontaneous and active interactions which could negatively affect the learning process. The study was based on data collected from structured observations conducted throughout the 2nd semester 2020/2021. The results show that the general interaction rate is unsatisfactory; especially the peers’ interaction rate which is the worst. To enhance the virtual class interactions, some tips and practices have been recommended. A further study may help to identify the factors that affect the interactions in virtual class.

Is constructive practice still possible in a competitive environment? Findings from a case study of a community rehabilitation company in England and Wales

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lol Burke ◽  
Matthew Millings ◽  
Gwen Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Competitive Environment ◽  
Practice Environment ◽  
Ethnographic Case Study ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
Community Rehabilitation ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Probation Service ◽  
Working Practices ◽  
Privately Financed

The Transforming Rehabilitation policy in England and Wales, involving the separation of the Probation Trusts into a publically National Probation Service (NPS) and 21 privately financed Community Rehabilitation Companies (CRC), was promoted as being an opportunity to stimulate innovation and develop new working practices within probation. Drawing on an ethnographic case study of the implementation of Transforming Rehabilitation the authors will consider some of the key challenges and opportunities for staff working in a Community Rehabilitation Company and what they might suggest in terms of the longer-term impact upon the working practices of probation staff as they move into a more competitively structured environment. Using Gorman et al’s (2006:21) assertion that constructive probation practice is ‘more artistic than technical, more creative than procedural, more collaborative than instrumental’, the authors explore what skills, qualities and values will be required in this new practice environment and whether or not it will lead to further deprofessionalisation?

scholarly journals Improving public sector knowledge sharing through communities of practice

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasmus Jørgensen ◽  
Kasper Edwards ◽  
Enrico Scarso ◽  
Christine Ipsen
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Work Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practice Improvement ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Development Framework ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to study the impact of intentionally developed communities of practice (CoPs) on knowledge sharing and practice improvement in an administrative public sector organisation (PSO). Design/methodology/approach A case study approach was used to analyse the impact of the CoPs intentionally developed by four different teams at a Danish PSO. The study applied a CoP development framework suggested by the literature to develop the CoPs. Findings Three out of the four CoPs were successfully developed, and they positively affected knowledge sharing and practice improvement. CoP participants engaged in conversations to explore individual ways of working, share knowledge and ultimately improve practice. Standardisation and boundary spanning were identified as contextual factors influencing the CoP activities. Research limitations/implications The findings verify the framework and contribute to a better understanding of the factors affecting the development of CoPs that positively impact knowledge sharing and practice improvements in a PSO context. Practical implications The study provides operations managers in PSOs with a framework for developing CoPs to improve work performance through better knowledge sharing among employees. Originality/value The paper provides case study evidence for the relevance of CoPs in PSO settings and highlights the necessity of investing resources in employee knowledge-sharing interactions.

scholarly journals The Experience and Meaning of Media to Non-Mainstream Athletes: Qualitative Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1154
Author(s):  
Eunhye Yoo ◽  
Jeong-Hui Park ◽  
Jung-Min Lee
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Media Exposure ◽  
Auxiliary Data ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Media ◽  
Sustained Effort ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

This study aims to understand the process by which ssireum (traditional Korean wrestling), which was labeled a declining industry, has regained its popularity owing to the impact of the media. The study was conducted as a case study with ten ssireum athletes who participated in the television program “The Rhapsody of Ssireum.” Additionally, text analysis was performed based on in-depth interviews and auxiliary data collection. As a result, four media-driven transformative trends in ssireum were observed: a shift of the public’s interest from online to offline under the influence of media, shift in the public’s perception of ssireum athletes’ body, birth of ssireum stars with nicknames matching the characteristics of popular ssireum athletes, and ssireum athletes’ increased sense of responsibility toward ssireum matches felt under the spotlight of the media. Admittedly, media exposure of ssireum athletes has increased significantly compared to the past. However, for the popularization of ssireum, a sport unique to Korea, the athletes, and the ssireum association need to make a sustained effort.

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