ABSTRACT
Supervision is a central task and process that is integral to the delivery of safe and effective practice in forensic settings (Davys & Beddoe, 2010). It provides oversight and guidance for decision-making critical for all the professionals who are represented in multi-disciplinary teams. Research and practice findings examining various aspects of supervision are discussed in this chapter with a view to describing the components of service delivery that enable staff in forensic settings to achieve some of the aspirations of ‘secure recovery’ (Drennan & Alred, 2012) and, ultimately, desistance from offending (Weaver, 2015). Mental health recovery aspirations might include stability, well-being, control, and opportunity; in forensic settings, ‘secure’ recovery might include ethical decision-making, and increased safety in the company of others. Such goals are contained and nurtured within supervisory exchanges between staff, reflective practice, and through inclusion of service users’ perspectives on the process. In combination, these features of a reflective forensic organisation can interrupt vicious cycles of past (often traumatic) experience and distress from being repeatedly re-enacted. They are restorative of care-taking, promote adherence to the surveillance aspect of the experience of being supervised, and invite responsibility-taking on the part of those with a history of offending. There is evidence that professionals who are well supervised are more likely to nurture the interest, capacity, and confidence of those using their services to engage with others in a manner that is responsive to their needs (Brunero & Stein-Parbury, 2015).
