The Probation Service ‘Pathfinders’

Part of the programme of research funded under the Crime Reduction Programme was a group of evaluative studies of innovative probation service projects known as ‘Pathfinders’. These projects were developed as part of the ‘What Works’ initiative which had been pursued by the Probation Service since the mid-1990s, and need to be understood in that context as well as in the context of the Crime Reduction Programme. ‘What Works’ was an attempt to achieve a rapid step-change in the effectiveness of probation work in England and Wales through systematic application of international research on effective methods for the rehabilitation of offenders. The studies carried out with the Crime Reduction Programme support represented a resurgence of research interest in the effective supervision of offenders, after a period of relative neglect. However, the results of the studies have been less positive than was hoped and expected by Probation Service leaders. This article explores some of the arguments which are currently being put forward to account for this, and considers in particular the problems of implementation and time-scale which afflicted the projects, the narrow model of evaluation which informed the research strategy, and the limited role of evidence in a criminal justice context dominated by politically driven initiatives.