The probation service help people who have come into contact with the law by providing care, or care for addicts and the mentally handicapped. Together with the justice system, police, municipalities and prison system, every effort is made to prevent people from committing offences and reoffending. What form do these care interventions take and do they help to prevent recidivism? How could probation service teams improve their effectiveness? What is the state of current research on judicial social work? This represents a small sample of the sorts of research questions examined by the WODC.