Comment
| Date | 01 September 1982 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058202900301 |
| Published date | 01 September 1982 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
81
Probation
Journal
Published
by
the
National
Association
of
Probation
Officers
Editorial
Advisory
Board:
Laurence
V.
Coates,
Jenny
Kirkpatrick
(ex
officio),
Tim
Powell,
David
Reaich
(acting
Hon
Editor
from
4.5.82),
Peter
Simpson,
Andy
Stelman,
Angela
Widowson
Price
£1
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members)
~
COMMENT
The
Probation
Service
can
consider
itself
fortunate
to
have,
at
least
so
far,
escaped
the
reviews,
restructuring
and
cutbacks
which
have
so
severely
hit
local
authority
welfare
services,
educational
provision
and
the
health
service.
How-
ever,
it
would
be
very
foolish
and
short-
sighted
to
assume
that
changes
are
un-
likely,
the
now
familiar
catalogue
of
disrepair
in
the
prisons,
the
continmng
rise
in
the
official
crime
rate
and
those
appearing
before
the
courts
will
inevit-
ably
influence
the
allocation
and
use
of
resources
for
the
Probation
Service.
Indeed
these
domain
issues
constitute
sufficient
reason
for
us
all
to
be
alive
to
the
debates
within
the
Probation
Service
concerning
its
present
tasks
and
future
development.
We
thus
return
to
the
theme,
’the
search
for
values’
-
the
development
of
a
Service
relevant
to
con-
temporary
society
and
its
manifest
prob-
lems.
However,
the
concern
here
is
not
with
detailing
these
problems
or
how
the
Probation
Service
measures
up
to
the
issues.
Rather
our
attention
shifts
to
the
process
through
which
we
are
obliged
to
play a
part
in
determining
our
own
future.
No
Escape
from
Values
There
is
no
escape
from
the
respon-
sibility
of
being
involved
in
the
search
for
values.
The
presentation
and
confirmation
of
values
is
inherent
in
our
every
day
practice.
They
are
seen
in
many
ways;
in
our
understanding
of
the
offender
and
the
nature
of
crime,
in
our
practice
and
approach
to
the
people
we
deal
with,
in
our
interpretation
of
our
job,
the
tasks
we
consider
relevant
and
in
our
under-
standings
of
how
they
should
be
carried
out.
We are
all
daily
involved
in
the
nego-
tiation
of
values,
sentiments
and
theories
concerning
the
world
about
us.
Even
those
who
might
express
little
interest
in
the
search
for
values
in
more
formal
arenas
are
inextricably
bound
up
in
the
daily
articulation
of
a
political
and
moral
stance.
Too
often,
however,
it
remains
at
the
level
of
a
taken-for-granted
attitude.
Too
easily
we
sell
ourselves
short
and
fail
to
recognise
the
rich
expertise
on
which
we
can
draw.
In
more
actively
engaging
in
the
search
for
values,
we
can
build
on
this
knowledge.
It
is
important
that
the
search
for
values,
begins
with
and
refers
to
what
is
directly
known
and
intelligible
to
us.
However,
our
expertise
will
come
to
little
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