The key finding indicate that face-to-face rehabilitative work with residents of Approved Premises is a crucial component for resident’s success. Yet the growing emphasis on monitoring and surveillance within the Approved Premises program threatens to push the face-to-face rehabilitative work to a secondary position. The authors argue that the rehabilitative aspect of resident work assists in their risk management and that a pro-social and motivational approach to offender community management will enhance public protection and should not be lost to surveillance functions. The research involved a review of the research literature from both Britain and North America on Approved Premises and other offender housing strategies as well as findings from the Approved Premises pathfinder evaluation. The research review indicates that the danger in adopting a strictly surveillance-based approach to residential offender management is that this approach encourages staff to retreat to an office, to minimize contact with residents, and to simply observe their behavior through the use of technology. Research also indicated that in order to fulfill the potential of risk management using a prosocial approach, staff should be well trained and the training should be tailored to the specific issues that come up when working in residential settings. The article also reviewed the core Approved Premises regime for male residents, including the variety of interventions offered, and considered the applicability of the Approved Premises model for female offenders. Future research should focus on the nature and scope of work done in Approved Premises programs. Figure, table, note, references