'Change and Challenge for Probation Staff in England and Wales: Issues of Gender and Deprofessionalisation'

The National Probation Service in England and Wales has experienced unparalled change over the recent past. This has taken place against the backdrop of probation providing punishment in the community and with an emphasis on risk assessment and risk management of offenders. This wider context has been reviewed extensively in the literature in terms of policy and practice developments but a gendered analysis has remained under-explored. Over the past 20 years there has been a decisive shift in terms of the gendered composition of staff within probation; for most of the 20th century probation was a male-dominated service but there are now many more women than men working within the organisation. This paper examines this surprising and somewhat counter-intuitive situation, first, by outlining quantitative changes at various organisational levels and then by drawing on qualitative research data from women probation officers. These different perspectives are subjected to a probing critique to extend an understanding and explanation of this extensive – and seemingly now sustained - change within probation.