The Penal Voluntary Sector in England & Wales: Adaptation [and Resilience] in a Turbulent Era

• In Event: The Penal Voluntary Sector: Thematic Panel B

Abstract

This paper will report on the findings of a major research project on voluntary sector adaptation and resilience in a mixed penal services market during a period of deep disruption to the social economy. The study took place in England and Wales from Spring 2015 to Spring 2017 and involved participants from over 100 agencies. Our findings show that the combination of marketization, austerity, the outsourcing of probation and resettlement and decentralised criminal justice management have the voluntary sector’s standing and role with stakeholders. These range from the national and local state, statutory criminal justice services, the private sector, beneficiaries and the public. The paper will present evidence of the repositioning that has taken place within the sector in order to surmount current challenges. We suggest, qua Salamon (2013), that while the voluntary/third sector has overcome previous moments of rupture, its survival has been at a cost to its conventions of autonomy and distinctiveness. The paper will also propose, however, that attention needs to be paid to burgeoning counter-narratives from the sector which may be understood as ‘resilience’.

Ref: Salamon, L. (2013) The Resilient Sector: the future of non-profits in America. Washington: Brookings Institute.

Author

• Mary Corcoran, Keele University