Book Reviews : The English Probation Hostel Probation Paper No. 6 Mark Monger NAPO. 5s
| Author | Nicholas Hinton |
| Published date | 01 June 1969 |
| Date | 01 June 1969 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/026455056901500208 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
64
The
English
Probation
Hostel
Probation
Paper
No. 6
Mark
Monger
NAPO.
5s.
Mr.
Monger
begins
his
paper
with
a
brief
account
of
the
early
development
of
the
Probation
Hostel.
It
is
not
pos-
sible
to
give
an
exact
date
but
it
is
sur-
prising
that
the
first
experiments
and
pioneering
attempts
began
as
long
ago
as
seventy
years.
Yet
despite
this
com-
paratively
long
history
the
amount
of
published
literature
of
any
kind
on
the
subject
of
hostels
is
minimal.
Hence
Mr.
Monger’s
paper,
although
brief,
is
a
wel-
come
and
important
addition.
The
paper
sets
out
to
fulfil
two
objec-
tives ;
to
collect
together
material
repre-
senting
the
experience
of
probation
hos-
tels
with
a
view
to
stimulating
thinking
and
influencing
practice,
and
secondly
to
provide
a
work
of
interest
to
those
con-
cerned
with
all
hostels
dealing
with
offen-
ders.
Mr.
Monger
begins
with
an
his-
torical
account
of
probation
hostels
and
continues
by
describing
the
legal
and
administrative
framework.
The
following
chapter
deals
with
existing
and
would-be
resources.
A
question,
asking
hostel
wardens
how
they
would
spend
£I,000
a
year
for
five
years,
gives
plenty
of
scope
for
the
latter
category.
There
fol-
lows
a
section
on
the
vexed
subject
of
selection
for
a
hostel
and
the
paper
ends
with
an
analysis
of
treatment
from
the
vantage
point
of
the
warden,
the
liaison
probation
officer
and
the
home
area
officer.
Mr.
Monger
gathered
his
infor-
mation
by
a
series
of
questionnaires
and
interviews
with
the
respective
probation
officers
and
hostel
wardens.
As
a
result,
the
opinions,
and
frequently
conflicting
opinions,
of
the
probation
service
and
the hostel
staff
are
represented
at
first
hand.
But
missing
from
this
account
are
the
first
hand
impression
of
management
committee
members
and
those
of
the
resident
or
ex-resident - the
consumer.
To
this
extent
the
hostel
jigsaw
is
in-
complete
and
perhaps
the
two
objectives
of
the
paper
stand
less
chance
of
fulfil-
ment
without
the
missing
pieces.
In
his
conclusion
to
the
paper,
Mr.
Monger
draws
an
analogy
between
the
English
probation
hostel
and
the
family
whose
father
provides
for
all
the
mater-
ial
but
few
of
the
more
important
emo-
tional
needs.
The
paper
goes
a
long
way
to
support
this
analogy.
A
great
deal
of
public
and
voluntarily
given
money
has
been
and
is
being
spent,
yet,
as
is
clear
from
Mr.
Monger’s
paper,
those
con-
cerned
are
confused
as
to
the
nature
of
the
hostel.
Is
it
a
depository
for
difficult
probationers?
Is
it
seen
by
the
proba-
tioner
as
a
place
of
punishment
or
as
an
alternative
to
borstal?
Does
it
provide
an
opportunity
for
treatment?
Such
con-
fusion
and
the
die-hard
notion
of
the
family
structure
fantasy
have
prevented
an
assessment
of
the
job
and
role
of
the
staff
and
as
a
result
no
training
exists
to
equip
staff
to
do
the
job.
If
Mr.
Mon-
ger’s
paper
stimulates
thought
and
action
on
these
and
other
questions
to
which
he
draws
attention,
then
the
probation
hostels
and
after-care
hostels
which
share
similar
deep-rooted
problems
will
bene-
fit.
The
Children
and
Young
Persons
Bill,
published
since
Mr.
Monger
wrote
his
paper,
affects
many
probation
hos-
tels.
Will
these
hostels
meet
the
exciting
challenge
provided
by
the
new
frame-
work
for
helping
young
persons
in
trouble?
NICHOLAS
HINTON
The
Probation
Officers’
Manual
F.
V.
Jarvis
Butterworths.
56s.
(special
price
for
probation
officers
and
students,
36s.
plus
5/3d.
postage)
Fred
Jarvis
has
brought
together
an
enormous
mass
of
material
and
has
given
it
some
coherent
form.
This
manual
con-
sists
of
a
comprehensive
and
easily
found
list
of
the
legal
and
administrative
processes
within
which
the
probation
office
has
to
work.
It
is
a
formidable
series
and
I
wonder
how
many
people
can
be
familiar
with
all
of
this
material.
There
is
also
a
short
historical
introduc-
tion
to
each
of
the
sections
in
an
attempt
to
place
the
provisions
in
some
sort
of
progressive
framework.
Clearly,
the
hope
is
that
this
book
will
become
an
essential
part
of
the
probation
officers’
equipment
and
that
time
will
be
saved
for
more
important
functions
by
its
use.
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