IN-CJ Newsdesk 2023 – European Perspectives on Mental Health in Probation

Probation staff’s knowledge across Europe about mental illness can often be better than the general population’s knowledge, although their attitudes are often found to be healthy when measured using the Mental Health Literacy Scale. The CEP Expert Mental Health working group is looking at the design of a common-score curriculum with national add-on modules, that can be used to evaluate and assess improvements to mental health provision. Professor Charlie Brooker of Royal Holloway, at the University of London, and Coral Sirdifield a Senior Research Associate at the University of Lincoln, and Gerry McNally, former president of CEP, discuss how the study came about, and what the lessons are so far.