A realist review to develop a theory of effective front-line management in probation and youth justice

Wong, Kevin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3847-2316, Fox, Christopher ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1931-2058, Adams-Guppy, David ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3118-9615, Hall, Ben ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-1929-5041 and Webster, Russell (2025) A realist review to develop a theory of effective front-line management in probation and youth justice. Probation Journal. ISSN 0264-5505

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Abstract

Probation in England and Wales is in crisis. Subject to internal and external scrutiny, political and public expectation, senior probation officers struggle with performance targets, high staff turnover, inexperienced staff and caseload pressures. We undertook a realist review and through testing and refinement, we derive a mid-level theory of effective (front-line) management comprising five interactive components: management oversight; clinical supervision; reflective practice; senior practitioner; and self-managing teams. We consider how this theory might be implemented, arguing that a governance reset founded on new public governance (NPG) principles can provide supportive conditions. We use NPG's public service value creation framework to test our theory of effective management and argue it provides a reform framework to address the challenges facing probation and other risk and care professions in the United Kingdom and internationally.