Risk analysis and the new practitioner: myth or reality?

This aim of this research is to contribute to an examination of the effects of the transition toward risk analysis on the work of practitioners within the criminal justice system, in particular the probation service of England and Wales. The intention here is to focus on the impact on practice and interventions in the shift from traditional casework methods to risk assessment and some of the contradictions and problems this raises. On the basis of a small pilot study, two issues are highlighted: first, whether the successful application of risk assessment systems presupposes the very casework skills which these systems were designed to replace} second, whether deskilled practitioners working under increasing resource constraints tend to inflate the levels of risk presented by clients and mis-refer them to inappropriate cognitive therapy programmes, with the ultimate result that clients needlessly end up in custody.

Also presented as a conference paper at the British Criminal Conference in Leeds, 2005