NCJ Number
158763
Date Published
1993
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This paper provides an overview of this volume's papers on group work with offenders by the probation service of England and Wales, together with a discussion of some of the approaches used in group work and the issues involved.
Abstract
The British probation service has a long tradition of working with offenders in groups; the use of groups in the probation service is now probably more extensive and varied than it has ever been. Nevertheless, the literature contains relatively little discussion of the models, values, aims, and characteristics of group work and little acknowledgment that national policies can have a significant impact on the shape of group work. Social skills and offending behavior groups are two of the most commonly encountered forms of group work with offenders. Each tends to be offered as a structured, short-term program used to promote individual change. The papers in the book indicate both the diversity of contemporary group work in the probation service and the pressures on practitioners to concentrate on the kind of group work most obviously consistent with current policy directives. Issues involved in group work include the need for suitable organizational and physical arrangements, the need for an appropriate psychological climate, compulsion versus voluntarism, and the relative merits of structured packages and process-oriented approaches. The subsequent papers in this volume provide an overview, background information, group work in institutional settings, and group work in field settings.