'Stop a Minute' : Making space for thinking in practice

This article draws on the content of four linked seminars in a series entitled ‘Thinking in Practice: Ensuring quality in the supervision of offenders in the community’ which offered practitioners and managers from probation and youth justice services some ‘reflective space’ to critically engage with current knowledge and research around a range of topics including risk assessment tools, compliance and desistance theory, responsivity in supervision (offenders and staff), and the future shape of offender management provision. The series valued not only knowledge derived from research and theory, but also the exercise of professional judgement developed through experience and reflection. This account of contributions from speakers and subsequent discussions highlights the dangers of over prescriptive and simplified solutions to complex problems, and a consequent diminution of professional confidence in using judgement. It also suggests that there is the potential for practice to develop in positive directions, ones that will engage the enthusiasm and optimism of both practitioners and managers. The centrality of making space for ‘thinking in practice’ is reaffirmed.