BRINGING COMMUNITY WEALTH BUILDING TO JUSTICE: BACK TO A MUTUAL FUTURE FOR PROBATION?

Abstract

In this think piece and position paper we consider mutual and cooperative solutions to key resettlement challenges, we believe to be germane to a focus on the future of probation post 2020. We argue that Senior and colleagues’ (2016) identification of the relational co-production of rehabilitation within local communities as key to successful probation can equally well be understood in terms of ‘mutuality’ and cooperation in service delivery. We argue that this essence of probation can be re-captured in contemporary rehabilitation services by integrating probation practice more with the community, ideally in a context of broader efforts towards achieving economic fairness within localities. We report on one such initiative tied in with the distinct form of new municipal local economic development, defined as community wealth building being pioneered in Preston in the North West of England. This ‘Preston Model’ provides a context for discussing particular cooperative development work designed coproductively to better support offender resettlement. Our work in ‘bringing the Preston Model to Justice’ arguably has great potential for wider application in the quest for successful community re-entry and a positive impact upon desistance.