The Probation Service of England and Wales is the least spectacular agency within the Criminal Justice System (CJS), lacking the dramas and cruel tensions of other aspects of law enforcement. Working in the space between the Courts, the Police and the Prison Service, its practice is motivated by a commitment to the principle of social justice, involving a concern for the well-being of all those caught up within the administration of the law, including, and, in particular, the people against whom the law is being enforced ("the offender"). In recent years this "decent" presence has been questioned as the Probation Service, along with other parts of the CJS, has been forced to redefine itself in response to the social difficulties experienced by all western democracies and the associated rapid escalation of crime (May, 1994).