The Exceptional Delivery Model for probation practice in England and Wales meant that probation practitioners predominantly worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, engaging and supervising service-users remotely. This article explores the impact of the Exceptional Delivery Model on staff and their practice. We begin by considering how probation practice changed because of the implementation of the Exceptional Delivery Model and the impact that this has had on probation staff. The reality of probation work is brought into perspective when there are children in the home and the demarcation of work and home life is easily blurred, especially when considered through the lens of ‘emotional dirty work’. We then present analysis of interviews with 61 practitioners and managers in the National Probation Service. The interviews were primarily focused on staff wellbeing and emotional labour as opposed to the impact of the pandemic, but participants regularly raised the pandemic in discussions. We focus on three key themes: the challenges of working from home and remote communication, experiences of managing risk through doorstep visits and the spill over of probation work into personal lives. The article concludes by considering what the findings tell us about probation work and potential future implications.

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This article explores the concept of professional curiosity in relation to probation practice. We synthesise existing relevant literature to develop a theoretical framework of how professional curiosity is understood, arguing that professional curiosity can be used to manage risk, develop the therapeutic alliance, and facilitate knowledge building. We then present analysis of how the concept has been used in probation policy and analyse data generated in the first study of professional curiosity amongst probation workers in England and Wales. We conduct a content analysis of the meanings that probation staff (n = 445) attribute to the term professional curiosity by analysing responses to an open-ended question, which asked participants ‘What does professional curiosity mean to you?’. Our analysis is exploratory in nature and sheds some light on how probation workers in England and Wales understand professional curiosity. Respondents were more likely to associate the term with managing risk, although there is considerable heterogeneity between the way it is understood. We draw on existing research about probation training, culture and values to explore the reasons for these findings. We conclude by considering the limitations of the research and highlighting policy implications.

This article focuses on the feasibility of using a desistance-focused approach in the National Probation Service (NPS) in the post-Transforming Rehabilitation (TR) context. Findings are drawn from an exploratory study undertaken in one NPS Division, which used triangulation of three data collection methods: observations of one-to-one supervision sessions, documentary analysis and practitioner focus groups. Findings show that practitioners use elements of a desistance-focused approach, although not exclusively. Values based upon belief in the capacity to change and the need to offer support endure, despite mass organisational upheaval. The article concludes by suggesting that this ‘enduring habitus’ of probation could be an enabler for a desistance-focused approach but instrumentalism in policy and practice is a significant barrier.

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