Approved Premises: Futures of Control in the Community

In this chapter we consider the rehabilitative potential of Approved Premises (APs). We begin with an explanation of the role of APs before providing a brief critical history. We consider the potential of APs to contribute to the four forms of rehabilitation before concluding with some suggestions for future directions. In our view although the Approved Premises’ model offers many benefits and holds much potential, its capacity for transformative change is considerably hampered by the churn of demand and by a risk management culture that understandably tends to dominate the field. Throughout this text we will use the terms hostels, Approved Premises and APs synonymously to denote the same type of establishment; that is a hostel for offenders operated by or contracted to the National Probation Service.