Understanding Penal Practice

“A book aiming to increase our understanding of penal practice without concentrating primarily upon prisons is to be welcomed. Focusing on community supervision this volume scores a hit from that perspective alone... This is a volume of many strengths: it is well-structured and keeps its focus on practitioners to enable in depth consideration... From the outset the editors were clear about their aims. The project is well-conceived and well executed and has resulted in an important collection that should be read by policymakers and community justice practitioners, in addition to a broad range of academics.” –Scottish Justice Matters

"In our quest for finding "what works" in penal practice, we too often forget to ask questions of "how it works" – the dynamics, relationships, and social interactions involved in the important process of helping people change their lives. With contributions from an outstanding, international team of penal researchers, Durnescu and McNeill’s volume is a much needed response to this gap in the literature." – Shadd Maruna, Director of the Institute of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Queen’s University Belfast, UK

"Focusing on practice (rather than policy) and on work with offenders in the community (more than in prison), this excellent book fills a gap in the literature. Scholars from different countries present research and conceptual discussions that illuminate how practitioners approach and understand their work and the professional skills and personal qualities needed to support (ex-)offenders in the process of change." – Professor Rob Canton, De Montfort University, UK

"This book deals more with practices in community settings and thus differs from the majority of books that focus on prison settings. This is a welcomed approach for practitioners in probation and parole… (The Editors) have brought together in this book a number of interesting and informative studies on how correctional workers practice their profession. This work contributes enormously towards bridging the gap between what works and how it works…. I would recommend this collection to both probation administrators and officers as a useful tool to assist them in developing their policy and practices that improve the outcomes of their efforts." - Donald G Evans, Past President of the American Probation and Parole Association, Perspectives, American Probation and Parole Association