Sensing probation in Canada: Notes on affect and penal aesthetics in risk assessment
Open accessAbstract
Based on 6 years of probation practitioner experience in a metropolis of Canada, I provide an autoethnographic account reflecting on my fieldwork as I now commence doctoral studies. Contributing to discussions of experience in the penal atmosphere, I explore personal ethics and values, looking specifically to LSI-R software, where my experience with risk-based programming indicates a subjugation of both supervisees and supervisors. Studying penal aesthetics within the version of the software I used to assess criminogenic risk thus elucidates why evaluators tend to score their risk ratings upward rather than downward. Implications for a desistance paradigm are juxtaposed to the RNR model of offender management, where sensing visual and haptic stimuli pertains to an algorithmic governance mode limiting human connection. I conclude by reflecting on organisational values and behaviour to indicate where therapeutic alliances with criminalised people intersect criminalisation and desistance.
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This approach is contrary to the spirit of Canada's common law tradition that requires attention to details and exercise of discretion.
“This is contrary to the spirit of Canada's common law tradition that requires attention to details and exercise of discretion (Taylor, 2023).”
From Colonization, Normalization and Risk-Assessment: The Case of Youth Criminal Justice Act and Correctional Overrepresentation of Indigenous Youth in Canada (2025) · cites this paper as Taylor, 2023
The risk-assessment approach has mostly been shrouded by the cultural and operational secrecy of Canada's powerful justice system, especially the correctional part.
“The risk-assessment approach, additionally, has mostly been shrouded by the cultural and operational secrecy of Canada's powerful justice system (especially the correctional part of it) (Ballucci, 2012; Taylor, 2023).”
From Colonization, Normalization and Risk-Assessment: The Case of Youth Criminal Justice Act and Correctional Overrepresentation of Indigenous Youth in Canada (2025) · cites this paper as Taylor, 2023
Cites
Saturation in qualitative research: exploring its conceptualization and operationalization
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Moral Injury: An Integrative Review
Griffin, B. J., Purcell, N., Burkman, K., Litz, B. T., Bryan, C. J., Schmitz, M., Villierme, C., Walsh, J., & Maguen, S. (2019) · Journal of Traumatic Stress · doi:10.1002/jts.22362 · Cited by 752 · cited 2× · see citing works
“This has created a morally injurious climate that represents a highstakes situation for practitioners (Griffin et al., 2019; Shay, 2014) as they experience cognitive dissonance: the state of tension between ideas, attitudes, and beliefs which become psychologically inconsistent with their work…”
BackgroundHannah-Moffat, K. (2019) · Theoretical Criminology · doi:10.1177/1362480618763582 · Cited by 236 · see citing works
Social Injustice in Surveillance Capitalism
Cinnamon, J. (2017) · Surveillance & Society · doi:10.24908/ss.v15i5.6433 · Cited by 116 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Where penology was once focused on managing aggregates (Feeley and Simon, 1992; Lynch, 1998), probation is now primarily concerned with binary algorithms (Bucher, 2018; Cinnamon, 2017; Hannah-Moffat, 2019; Kehl et al., 2017; Završnik, 2021).”
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Barmaki, R. (2025) · International Criminology · doi:10.1007/s43576-025-00170-8 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
- Authors
- Taylor, M. P.
- Affiliations
- Memorial University of Newfoundland (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Taylor, Micheal P.
- ORCID
- Taylor, Micheal P.
- Venue
- European Journal of Probation
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2023-04-15
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 120-146
- ISSN
- 2066-2203 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4365814544
- Cited by
- 11
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2025: 6 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 4.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- European Journal of Probation (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
- Keywords
- probation, risk assessment, affect, algorithmic governance, desistance from crime, offender management, therapeutic relationship, criminalization, organizational values, autoethnography
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