Self‐Legitimacy and the Moral Authority to Inspect: A Qualitative Study of Probation Inspectors in England and Wales

ABSTRACT This article examines how probation inspectors in England and Wales construct their self‐legitimacy; the internal belief in their moral and professional right to inspect. Drawing on qualitative interviews and Bottoms and Tankebe's dialogic model of legitimacy, it shows how inspectors justify their authority through legal mandates, professional expertise, methodological rigor, and a commitment to public service. In the absence of coercive powers, inspectors rely on what this article conceptualizes as regulatory soft power, influence grounded in credibility, fairness, and moral purpose. Inspection emerges as a relational practice, shaped by how inspectors perceive themselves and how they are perceived by others. This study extends the concept of self‐legitimacy from criminology into the regulatory domain, offering new insight into how regulators navigate authority in contexts marked by political sensitivity and limited enforcement tools. It argues that self‐legitimacy is an overlooked dimension of responsive regulation and a key factor in regulatory effectiveness.