This handbook provides a comprehensive, authoritative and up to date source of information and analysis about all aspects of the work of the Probation Service - an essential text for anybody working in probation, studying the subject as part of wider criminology or criminal justice course, or training for it. It takes full account of the many changes that the Probation Service has undergone over the last few years, and is currently undergoing as probation becomes part of the broader National Offender Management Service. Contributors to the book are drawn from leading academics and practitioners in the field, drawing upon the best expertise available. Running through the book is a concern with a range of key current issues such as addressing the diversity of offenders and creating effective links with other criminal justice agencies, and it includes perspectives from both probation service staff and from offenders and victims.