From Probation Work to Criminal Sanctions work: Key changes in social work with offenders in Finland from the 1960s to today

The paper addresses key changes in Finnish probation work’s rationalities, mentalities and technologies from the 1960s to the present, examining them within a wider governance theory framework. In this paper we ask how the... [ view full abstract ]

The paper addresses key changes in Finnish probation work’s rationalities, mentalities and technologies from the 1960s to the present, examining them within a wider governance theory framework. In this paper we ask how the following aspects of probation work have changed: (1) the conditions of probation work, (2) its institutional self-understanding, (3) its work methods, and (4) its objectives.

The primary data consists of the annual reports of the Probation Association, the Probation Service and the Criminal Sanctions Agency from 1971–2012. In order to illustrate the arguments presented, we have complemented our primary data with national policy documents and to place our results in context, we have utilized some excerpts from these organizations’ trade journals.

The thesis is that since the late 1960s, we can distinguish at least two, even three historical layers and governmental strategies in social work with offenders. The latest changes have been connected to several synchronous and multi-layered developments, such as globalisation, a re-orientation of Finnish social policy and the introduction of new methods and tools within probation work.

The presentation is based on the article accepted in October 2014 to be published in European Journal of Probation.