Transforming the probation service: 'what works', organisational change and professional identity

This article considers the rise of the 'what works' policy agenda in the probation service. It presents case study data on a decade of change in one probation service area. The findings are that 'what works' has produced a change in the knowledge pool upon which professional practice is based. It has also had a significant impact on the social relationships of probation work. Such shifts in professional knowledge and social relationships have shaken pre-existing professional and organisational identities. However,'what works' appears to have shifted rather than eroded professional boundaries, creating new divisions on which the profession might reconstruct itself.