Professionalism as a site of resistance: Dr Tidmarsh investigates professionalism in probation

Dr Matt Tidmarsh was invited to the University of California, Berkeley, to present his research on probation professionals.

He participated in the workshop Decentering the Governance of Public Professionals: Competing Narratives, Situated Dilemmas, Remaking Traditions, on 7 November 2025. 

Hosted by the Center for British Studies, the workshop sought to bring together scholars of professionalism to explore the contemporary challenges experienced by public sector professionals in the UK. Dr Tidmarsh’s contribution – Professionalism, Neoliberalism, and Networks: A Recent History of Probation Staff Experiences of Governance Reforms – explored how professionalism in probation has been reshaped by a succession of government interventions in England and Wales. He gave a brief talk for other attendees, before his written contribution was discussed at length.

Decentered governance

Dr Tidmarsh’s paper utilised the concept of decentered governance to analyse how probation staff interpret and reconfigure policy through their professional traditions. Drawing on interview data with 38 probation staff, it argued that professionalism functions as a site of resistance and a coping mechanism for navigating reform. While many practitioners invoke professional values to negotiate and (re)frame policy failure, the disaffection felt by others as a result of workload pressures hints at broader, existential problems for the Probation Service.

Associate Professor in Criminal Justice Dr Tidmarsh said:

The visit to Berkeley provided an invaluable opportunity to attend an event at a prestigious institution and share the work of the Legal Professions Research Group. I received excellent feedback from workshop attendees on my paper, and I look forward to seeing contributions in print in 2026.

Dr Tidmarsh is the co-director of the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies and a member of the Legal Professions Research Group.