Foreign national prisoners and people under supervision (FNPs) are an increasingly salient feature of Southeast Asian prison populations, yet the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) lacks an operational framework for transferring or recognizing post-release community supervision. In practice, many FNPs are deported at sentence completion with little structured aftercare, producing a reintegration cliff and avoidable public safety risk. Drawing on socio-legal comparative analysis and aggregated administrative data, this article proposes the BRIDGES model: a phased, rights-based blueprint centred on standardized social inquiry reporting (Litmas – Penelitian Kemasyarakatan), bilateral supervision protocols and secure digital information-sharing. Lessons from EU and Trans-Tasman arrangements are adapted for ASEAN's institutional and cultural context.
Probation in England and Wales has undergone significant reform in recent decades, prompting ongoing discussion about professional identity, practitioner autonomy, and effective practice. Drawing upon probation literature, inspection findings, and contemporary debates, this article examines how professional identity, practitioner autonomy, and relational practice may contribute to the future development of probation. It considers the relationship between organisational structures and rehabilitative practice, the balance between risk management and rehabilitation, and the contribution of relational approaches, community engagement and partnership working to effective community supervision and positive outcomes.
In March 2023, the United Kingdom (UK) prosecuted its first case of human trafficking for organ removal (HTOR) under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 in R v Obeta . Drawing on case material gathered during Operation Manoa, the criminal investigation that led to the conviction, this article examines the distinctive challenges HTOR presents for policing, criminal justice, and victim protection. It focuses in particular on the contested criminalisation of people compelled, for various reasons, to sell an organ and the limited scope of the ‘non-punishment principle’ under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act. The article also assesses recent and proposed amendments to section 22 of the Human Tissue Act introduced in response to growing concern over HTOR in the UK and internationally. It argues that, while these reforms express strong normative condemnation of HTOR, they do little to address the structural conditions behind the trade. The article therefore questions whether expanding criminal law, without corresponding regulatory reforms, for example, in global health governance, can provide more than a symbolic response to a deeply entrenched form of exploitation.
Considering the relevance of NRM on young people, whether it impacts them and how they may regard a Conclusive Grounds NRM decision. Understanding how Youth Justice and Probation practitioners can work with early life trauma, exploitation, and systemic barriers. Recognising trauma informed work and relationship-building as being foundations to both services in how we help victimised young people and adults try to find their way forward despite the adversity and neglect they have experienced.
In addressing human trafficking, probation services play a key role in identifying victims, providing support, working to prevent exploitation and reduce the potential for re-exploitation. In a world-first scoping review, this paper maps emerging empirical research on probation practices with justice-involved people subjected to exploitation and identifies gaps in research to inform policy and practice.
We linked data from His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service, Welsh Demographic Service and the Office for National Statistics using deterministic matching to assign ICD-10 codes. Of 290 deaths (2018–2021), 92% were matched. ICD-10 coding expanded Ministry of Justice categories, identifying leading causes: drug poisoning ( n = 99), intentional self-harm ( n = 36) and circulatory diseases ( n = 34). The data generated by the surveillance model on leading causes of death provided evidence from a public health perspective, and informed justice services of information not routinely available. The practical application of this new evidence was used to inform the Deaths Under Supervision Strategy in Wales.
In this compelling interview, lived experience consultant Sosa Henkoma (SH) shares his journey through the criminal justice system from childhood exploitation to adult rehabilitation. He reflects on the critical role probation services can play in supporting adult survivors of child exploitation. Speaking candidly with Ann Snowden (AS), SH offers insights into how trauma-informed practice, relational engagement, and the prioritisation of safety, as well as rehabilitation, can transform lives. His testimony underscores the importance of listening to those with lived experience and challenges professionals to rethink how they approach vulnerability and risk.
This article examines the importance of familial relationships in the lives of 82 Foreign National Prisoners (FNPs) in Irish Prisons. This article begins by outlining the methodology of the qualitative study. It then develops two key findings that emerged from the prisoner interviews. First, the article shows that the preservation of family relationships is compromised by geography, the costs associated with prison visits, technology and time differences. Secondly, the article reveals the financial and emotional strain which imprisonment can have on FNPs and their family members. Finally, the article concludes by emphasising the need for a dedicated service that would go some way towards ameliorating the specific issues raised by FNPs, and the families of FNPs, based on their lived experiences.
This practice note asserts that prison and probation services have a significant and unique role in contributing to anti-slavery regimes which has been largely overlooked. It sets out the development of a new framework to assist prison and probation services in responding to modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT) using three key themes. The first centres on raising awareness of known types and methods of MSHT. It captures emerging new risks and threats and acknowledges a wide diversity of offending where people are used as commodities for the financial gain of their exploiters. The second theme suggests ways in which potential justice-involved victims can be identified, supported to recover, and how risks of further exploitation may be reduced. The third theme seeks to develop ways in which those involved in slavery and trafficking offending can be disrupted, managed and supported to desist. It includes consideration of the victim-perpetrator overlap and the impact on public and victim confidence in how perpetrators are managed. It is understood that the new framework may represent the first comprehensive approach for prison and probation services in responding to slavery and trafficking.
Modern slavery and human trafficking (MSHT) continue to present complex challenges internationally and in the United Kingdom, especially when intersecting with migration systems, labour markets, criminal justice and welfare regimes. This article presents the first comprehensive review of MSHT partnerships in the city-region of Greater Manchester, which has aspects of devolved governance and a well-established culture of cross-sector collaboration. Drawing on qualitative interviews, a practitioner survey and social network analysis, we examine how statutory bodies and NGO/charity organisations coordinate their responses to MSHT, as well as the overlapping areas of homelessness, migration and asylum. Our findings show a broadly cohesive and collaborative partnership landscape, yet one that is held back by the absence of a longer-term vision and governance strategy, lack of resources, inconsistent survivor support and limited private sector engagement. We argue that meaningful MSHT responses and partnerships require not only inter-organisational cooperation, but also clear strategic direction, sustainable investment, and more consistent involvement and acknowledgement of people with lived experience. The article provides evidence-based recommendations to strengthen city-region MSHT partnerships and contributes wider insights for multi-organisational approaches to exploitation.
This paper explores how people encounter the criminal justice system, as well as related support services for those victims of modern slavery who also have a history of offending. Drawing on a focus group with three participants, the study examines how moral complexity, bureaucratic rigidity, and systemic misunderstanding shape processes of rehabilitation and engagement with UK modern slavery support and criminal justice systems. Participants described deep frustration at being simultaneously managed as offenders and overlooked as survivors, highlighting the limitations of current trauma-informed approaches when faced with non-stereotypical victim-offender identities. The paper situates these findings within contemporary debates on trauma-informed care, responsivity, and desistance, and argues for reforms that embed lived experience more deeply in system design, strengthen cross-sector continuity of care, and position probation as a relational and reparative form of rehabilitation.
The Home Office has funded certain local authorities across the United Kingdom to pilot devolved National Referral Mechanism (NRM) decision-making for child victims of modern slavery. Drawing on first-hand interviews with practitioners and supported by freedom of information data and existing literature, this article examines whether devolving decision-making powers to local authorities has improved responses to child exploitation. The findings highlight three key benefits of the pilots: quicker decision-making, improved awareness of the NRM, and enhanced multi-agency collaboration. At the same time, participants raised significant concerns that mirror long-standing critiques of the child NRM process. These included the limited practical value of NRM decisions for many children, especially British nationals; disparities in outcomes depending on a child's background; and safeguarding limitations that mean positive NRM decisions do not necessarily result in protection from ongoing exploitation. The research suggests that while devolved decision-making may improve processes around the NRM, it does less to address structural weaknesses in how the system supports children. The discussion situates these findings within routine activity theory and contextual safeguarding, arguing that an effective child NRM referral must not only involve quick decision-making, but must also strengthen the protective contexts around children and reduce opportunities for exploitation.
People with criminal records occupy a marginalised space in the labour market. Lived experience work provides an alternative pathway to overcome such exclusion, allowing individuals to transform an otherwise stigmatising attribute into something of value. Arguably, this enables a sense of mastery over life on the periphery, providing financial income and facilitating social inclusion. However, in an age of digital networking and online identity curation, contemporary forms of lived experience work are increasingly visible and entrepreneurial in nature. In light of this, this paper explores: 1) who is able to construct a permissible narrative for lived experience work, 2) how such careers are curated and sustained over time, and 3) how this experiential insight is engaged with by business and organisations. The paper contributes to emerging discussions regarding what meaningful and sustainable lived experience work might look like for people with criminal records.
This article examines probation practitioners' experiences of supervising an individual who commits a serious further offence (SFO). In particular, it explores the impact on staff of the Probation Service's processes for reviewing practice following an SFO. The article draws on findings from two small-scale qualitative studies, which investigated the perspectives of practitioners and managers with experience of these processes. The findings show that an SFO and its aftermath have a negative impact on the emotional well-being of staff, that there are concerns about procedural fairness, and that there can be a focus on the actions of the individual practitioner rather than on wider systemic failings. The article advocates for a change in process to improve the quality of practice and foster an organisational culture that treats staff with respect and care.
There is evidence that completion of criminal justice interventions, including family interventions, is an important factor in efforts to reduce reoffending amongst young people, with completers generally having better outcomes, including lower recidivism rates and non-completers having poorer outcomes. Knowledge about what contributes to program completion may help to improve completion rates and, in turn, outcomes for young people and their families. This article reports on a family work intervention offered to young people under the supervision of youth justice and their families in New South Wales, Australia. Completers had significantly lower recidivism rates than non-completers. Several factors relating to completion were identified, including where the family work was undertaken, the age of the young person, program fidelity, and the presence of two adults in the family-work sessions.
