"Don't Bull Me Up"
| Date | 01 March 1968 |
| Author | D.A. Mathieson |
| Published date | 01 March 1968 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455056801400106 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
16
family
casework,
although
there
seem
to
be
agencies
doing
this
work
already.
The
present
concentration
of
effort
on
the
needs
of
those
whom
probation
officers
were
originally
appointed
to
help,
does
suggest
that
the
priorities
here
are
correct.
The
school
of
thought
which
says
that
probation
officers
should
not
feature
in
penal
policy
or
are
not
part
of
the
field
of
corrections,
is
ignoring
the
reality
of
the
situation.
A
probation
officer’s
role
in
this
part
of
Canada
is
as
a
professional
caseworker
specialising
in
the
field
of
corrections.
Does
this
have
an
echo
in
the
present
trend
in
Britain?
1
The
Y.O.U.
provides
various
training
programmes
for
youths
between
the
ages
of
16
and
23.
2
Indictable
offences
as
in
Britain
are
the
more
serious
criminal
offences.
The
only
way
in
which
a
probation
officer
can
tell
if
an
offence
is
indictable
or
not,
is
to
refer
to
the
CRIMINAL
CODE
of
CANADA.
3
Report
of
Director
of
B.C.
Narcotic
Addiction
Centre
’66’.
"DON’T
BULL
ME
UP"
D.
A.
Mathieson
Birkenhead
Probation
Service
THE
FOLLOWING
is
an
extract
from
a
letter
received
from
John,
who
is
aged
twenty-one
and
at
present
in
the
middle
of
a
three-year
prison
sentence.
I
had
made
an
evening
visit
to
see
him
a
few
days
earlier.
&dquo; ...
I
didn’t
think
much
of
the
visit!
You
seemed
nervous.
That
will
be
because
I’m
now
in
a
three-cell.
When
other
Probation
Officers
come
in,
they
usually
stand
out
on
the
landing.
That
way
they
can
talk
more
freely.
When
I
showed
you
my
appeal
form,
you
had
a
look
at
the
parts
where
you
were
mentioned.
Was
it
O.K.
with
you
what
’
I
had
put
down?
I
told
the
truth
and
put
a
good
word
in
for
you
at
the
end!
One
thing
which
you
did
during
the
visit
slightly
annoyed
me;
when
you
were
talking
you
were
bulling
me
up
(not
an
awful
lot)
but
it
still
showed.
I
know
some
people
thrive
on
that
kind
of
rubbish,
but
I
didn’t
think
you
had
me
on
that
list.
I
think
you
know
what
I
mean,
like
as
if
you
were
trying
to
make
me
look
a
bit
of
a
wheel
and
at
the
same
time
patting
me
on
the
back.
I
haven’t
noticed
you
doing
it
before
on
earlier
visits.
You
were
trying
to
flatter
me
for
some
reason
or
other,
maybe
to
make
me
feel
good
or
look
good
in
front
of
my
cell
mates?
I
hope
you
don’t
mind
me
telling
you
like
this.
I’m
not
trying
to
be
funny.
You
might
not
have
known
you
were
doing
it.
I
remember
telling
you
in
an
earlier
letter
about
the
way
my
mother
used
to
say
that
I
wasn’t
as
bad
as
my
brother,
Dave,
because
I
never
stole
things
out
of
stupidity
like
he
did!
Without
knowing
it,
she
was
encouraging
me
to
carry on
like
I
was
doing
(being
a
good
little
Robin
Hood
type).
In
a
way,
you’re
doing
the
same
thing
on
a
smaller
scale,
which
could
make
me
go
around
trying
to
act
like
somebody
who
I’m
not.
After
a
talk
with
you,
a
person
could
leave
here
(or
your
office)
feeling
like
a
’big-shot’.
Let’s
drop
that
now-O.K.?
...&dquo;.
As
probation
officers,
we
write
a
lot
about
our
clients
in
court
reports
and
of6cial
records.
It’s
not
very
often
that
a
client
writes
about
the
probation
officer!
In
this
letter,
John
comments
on
my
emotional
reaction
to
a
strange
interview-
situation
and
on
my
treatment
of
him
during
the
interview.
He
criticises
my
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