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This paper presents a reflection upon the preliminary analysis of diary research conducted during the period 2014-2015 in five European countries (England and Wales, France, Norway, Romania and Slovakia). The authors gathered and analysed data from a pilot project which used semi-structured diaries to generate data on probation workers' daily lives with a view to understanding 'a day in the life' of probation officers across jurisdictions. The findings open up questions in relation to diary research in probation practice (diary format, follow-up interview etc.) and we use this article to discuss the relative advantages and benefits of using diary research in this area. We conclude with the argument that diaries as a method of social research hold considerable potential for conducting research in the context of probation but acknowledge that the method we employed requires some development and greater clarification in terms of the aims of the research.

Focusing on solution is an alternative perspective of communication, professional activities and relationship in relation to the problem-solving approach, used in social work. Looking to the future, rather than the past, the solution-focused approach affirms the right of clients to establish the desired results. It believes that change can take place in a relatively short period of time, especially when clients are empowered and motivated to use their resources and strengths to build solutions. Focusing on solution is part of the theoretical and methodological horizon, rooted in constructivism and social constructionism, which among other ideas specific to postmodernism, states that language, rather than just a medium for expressing ideas, really determines thinking, to the extent that truth is the product of language. This means that problems and solutions can be built through the communication that the social worker in the penitentiary has with inmates. Through communication, change can occur either as a difference in the way a person sees his world, or as a person doing something different, or both. This approach is also productive in communicating with the inamtes in order to identify relevant and motivating objectives and solutions for behavioral rehabilitation and social reintegration.