The Voluntary Sector and the Mandatory Statutory Supervision Requirement: Expanding the Carceral Net

Recent penal policy developments in England and Wales emphasize the role for voluntary organizations. Voluntary organizations play an important and increasing role in punishment, including imprisonment and supervision, but the effects of their work are ill understood. Existing literature is ambivalent: some argue such work empowers and builds social capital; for others, it extends control. This tension is addressed by analysing two payment-by-results pilot schemes. This analysis adds to the limited empirical knowledge about voluntary organizations. It demonstrates how their involvement in these pilots enabled and justified the new 12-month mandatory statutory supervision requirement, significantly extending the spatial and temporal reach of carceral power. The conclusion considers the theoretical implications of this analysis.