Probation Histories

This project was funded by the British Academy and ran from March 2008-winter 2009. The basic idea was to collect oral histories of probation in Scotland by interviewing former probation officers and former probationers who experienced probation in the 1950s and 60s, prior to the demise of the Scottish Probation Service after the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.

The reason for our interest in this topic rests in the recognition that our understandings of contemporary practices are undermined by igornance of their origins and development. There is very little scholarship on penal history in Scotland, and almost none that looks beyond official accounts to explore the interstices between policies and practices. 

Slides from a recent presentation at the Probation Centenary Conference hosted by Sheffield Hallam University in September 2007 can be located in project documents, as well as a draft version of chapter 1 of McNeill, F. and Whyte, B. (2007) Reducing Reoffending, Social Work and Community Justice in Scotland (Cullompton: Willan). This chapter reviews the history of social work with adult offenders in Scotland.

Project Documents History chapter
This is a draft version of chapter 1 of McNeill, F. and Whyte, B. (2007) Reducing Reoffending: Social Work and Community Justice in Scotland (Willan: Cullompton). It provides an overview of the history of social work with adult offenders in Scotland. Centenary conference presentation
These slides formed the basis of a recent address at the Probation Centenary Conference hosted by Sheffield Hallam University.