The past two decades have witnessed the remarkable rise of the voluntary/third sector as a force in policy making and as a 'partner' with government in delivering criminal justice services. Starting from local bases in community crime prevention and youth justice, the engagement of the sector has gained further momentum with the creation of National and Regional Offender Management Services to co-ordinate statutory and non-state collaborations in supporting offenders, victims and families.

This conference will explore the positive prospects and critical implications of these developments for the voluntary sector, government, statutory criminal justice and welfare services, communities and offenders. We wish to re-examine the theory, strategy, impact and practice of the penal voluntary sector in relation to the following themes.

• The historical or contemporary role of the penal voluntary sector
• The creation of a ‘penal services market’ and the marketisation of voluntary participation.
• ‘Citizenship’ as a discourse of government and civil society.
• Power relations between state and non-state organisations
• ‘Professionalising’ the voluntary sector
• Voluntary sector independence in an era of political patronage
• The impact of regulation and control in offender management
• Traditions of voluntary activism and engagement
• The role of religious and minority ethnic groups

Contributions are sought from academics, practitioners, policy makers and community activists across the borders of countries and disciplines. We offer a forum for sharing ideas, research, experience and outcomes, sessions for the presentation of papers, and plenary talks by leading speakers in the voluntary and criminal justice fields.

For further information please email volunteersectcor@crim.keele.ac.uk