George Mair is Professor of Criminal Justice at Liverpool John Moores University.

This book aims to provide a critical overview of the What Works initiative, and its impact on the work of the National Probation Service. It provides a wide set of perspectives on a project which is vital for the future of the National Probation Service.

1. Introduction: What Works and what matters 2. The origins of What Works in England and Wales: a house built on sand? 3.The uses and abuses of positivism 4. Dangerous thinking: a critical history of correctional cognitive behaviouralism 5. How cognitive skills forgot about gender and diversity 6. The barking dog? Partnership and effective practice 7. Getting tough or being effective: what matters? 8. Beyond programmes: organisational and cultural issues in the implementation of What Works 9. Supervision, motivation and social context: what matters most when probationers desist? 10. Community reintegration: for whom? 11. Community service as reintegration: exploring the potential 12. What Works: a view from the chiefs 13. Purposes matter: examining the 'ends' of probation 14. Getting personal: developments in policy and practice in Scotland 15. What Works and the globalisation of punishment talk