Book Reviews : Poor Parents—Social Policy and the "Cycle of Deprivation"
| DOI | 10.1177/026455057502200215 |
| Published date | 01 June 1975 |
| Date | 01 June 1975 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
63
viewer’s
excuse
for
the
adverse
com-
ments
made
is
that
he
visualises
the
present
production
as
a
useful
con-
tribution
to
the
literature,
but
also
as
layring
the
foundations
for
some-
thing
even
better.
MARK
MONGER
Probation
Officers’
Manual
F.
V.
Jarvis,
MA,
DPA
Butterworths,
£4.80
This
is
a
work
of
reference
that
needs
no
introduction
to
probation
officers.
Since
the
first
edition
was
published
in
1969
it
has
become
a
necessity
for
officers
to
have
easy
access
to
it,
and
as
the
law and
administrative
pro-
cedures
become
daily
more
complex
there
is
an
increased
need
for
these
to
be
codified.
Because
it
is
a
reference
book,
it
is
difficult
to
review
it
in
any
accepted
sense
of
the
word.
It
is
clear
that
it
is
well
edited
and
a
reliable
source
book.
The
main
problem
is
the
Index.
For
example,
if
you
want
to
look
up
retaining
fees
for
landladies
you
have
to
know
that
it
is
connected
with
after-care
because
that
is
where
it
is
listed.
This
requires
a
degree
of
prior
knowledge
that
many
users
will
not
possess.
To
take
another
example,
&dquo;Ministerial
responsibility
for
child
care
services&dquo;
is
listed
under
&dquo;Care
Proceedings,
responsibility&dquo;
which
is
misleading.
A
more
comprehensive
and
accurate
index
would
match
Mr
Jarvis’s
careful
and
reliable
source
book
which
should
be
available
to
all
who
work
in
the
Service.
CJE
Poor
Parents—Social
Policy
and
the
"Cycle
of
Deprivation"
Bill
Jordan
Routledge
&
Kegan
Paul,
£1.75
This
book
attempts
to
place
into
perspective
some
of
the
main
frustra-
tions
of
workers
in
our
state
personal
social
service
agencies
and
as
such
it
should
have
a
broad
appeal.
The
argument
put
forward
is
that
social
work
agencies
(particularly
Local
Authority
Social
Service
Depart-
ments,
but
also
the
Probation
Service)
are
increasingly
involved
with
a
section
of
society
that
would
not
normally
be
thought
of
as
social
work
clients.
These
are
people
whose
needs
are
rooted
in
their
poverty
and
compounded
by
the
systematic
way
that
other
arms
of
the
welfare
state
have
stopped
servicing
them..
The
book
traces
the
historical
development
of
this
situation
from
the
medieval
Poor
Law
services,
and
points
out
the
landmarks
of
the
decline.
Throughout
he
pays
great
attention
to
the
political
influences
on
social
policy
decisions-an
area
rather
underdiscussed
by
those
on
our
side
of
the
debate.
He
suggests
that
such
things
as
the
restricted
avail-
ability
of
social
security
offices
are
a
deliberate
attempt
to
force
those
in
emergency
need
to
go
to
a
social
worker.
Our
profession
is
then
becoming
used
as
a
means
to
regulate
the
life
of
the
poor.
Mr
Jordan
argues
that
the
conse-
quence
of
social
work
departments
becoming
all-providing
agencies
dis-
pensing
such
things
as
financial
aid,
job
referrals
and
emergency
accom-
modation
for the
undifferentiated
poor
is
to
greatly
compromise
social
work
ideals.
The
non-problem
poor
find
they
have
to
embark
on
&dquo;client-
careers&dquo;
when
all
they
need
is
a
roof
over
their
head.
The
agencies’
priori-
ties
are
distorted
by
the
tendency
to
introduce
criteria
of
eligibility
for
the
resources
at
their
disposal
that
do
not
accord
with
pure
social
work
prin-
ciples,
and
clients
with
severe
social-
work-type
problems
take
their
place
in
the
queue
behind
the
homeless
and
penniless.
In
some
ways
this
is
an
analytical
companion
to
&dquo;Cathy
Come
Home&dquo;
and
it
has
already
proved
to
be
influential.
In
places
the
argument
becomes
quite
complex
but
never
unreadable-and
the
text
is
illustrated
with
examples
from
the
author’s
own
experience
in
the
Claimants’
Union
and
the
Probation
Service.
I
found
it
put
things
into
perspective
and
it
could
well
initiate
the
same
debate
in
NAPO
that
it
seems
to
have
started
in
BASW.
MHS
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