'Erroneous Impression' of Scottish Training?
| DOI | 10.1177/026455050004700430 |
| Date | 01 December 2000 |
| Published date | 01 December 2000 |
| Author | Joyce Lishman |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
304
LETTERS
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to:
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’Erroneous
Impression’
of
Scottish
Training?
Dear
Editor,
In
James
Maybee’s
paper
’The
Challenge
Ahead
for
Criminal
Justice
Social
Work
in
Scotland’
(Probation
Journal
47
(3),
he
says:
&dquo;For
example,
my
impression
of
the
current
curriculum
at
The
Robert
Gordon
University
(the
local
training
provider
for
Inverness)
is
that
it
provides
little
specific
input
on
probation.&dquo;
(p.197)
I
understand
from
James
that
this
’impression’
has
generated
lively
correspondence
and
debate.
Unfortunately
it
is
inaccurate
and
misleading.
We
provide
at The
Robert
Gordon
University
a
number
of
routes
to
qualification.
In
our
degree,
criminal
justice
work
is
addressed
at
different
levels
and
in
different
modules
although
there
is
a
specific
module
devoted
to
criminal
justice
and
to
substance
abuse,
taught
by
an
experienced
practitioner/manager
in
criminal
justice
and
a
specialist
lecturer.
We
also
provide
specialist
legal
teaching
in
relation
to
criminal
justice,
ethics in
relation
to
criminal
justice,
and
social
sciences
and
social
work
theory,
practice
and
intervention
as
applied
to
criminal
justice.
Our
research
teaching
(a
specific
module)
also
addresses
all
these
issues.
In
short
we
draw
on
research,
social
science,
models
of
social
work
assessment
and
intervention
and
then
help
students
apply
them
to
specific
areas
of
social
work
of
which
criminal
justice
in
Scotland
(unlike
England)
is
one.
I
am
concerned
that
an
unevidenced
impression
appears
to
stand
in
relation
to
criminal
justice,
an
area
of
social
work
which
has
prided
itself
on
its
evidence
base.
Professor
Joyce
Lishman
Head
of
School
of Applied
Social
Studies
Robert
Gordon
University
Author’s
Reply
Dear
Editor,
I
do
not
dispute
Professor
Lishman’s
assertion
that
criminal
justice
work
is
addressed
in
a
variety
of
ways
at
The
Robert
Gordon
University
as
part
of
a
generic
social
work
training
course.
My
concern
is
about
whether
there
is
sufficient
specialist
training
on
generic
courses
to
equip
social
workers
throughout
Scotland
to
work
effectively
within
criminal
justice
upon
qualification.
To
take
one
example,
trainee
social
workers
will
qualify
with
an
understanding
of
different
theoretical
perspectives
but
are
not
trained
to
deliver
specific
programmes
designed
to
reduce
offending
behaviour
that
have
been
validated
by
research.
This
also
applies
to
many
qualified
social
workers,
as
I
demonstrate
in
my
article.
Social
workers’
ability
to
help
offenders
stop
offending
is
dependent,
to
a
large
extent,
on
the
quality
of
training.
Thus
the
central
question
is
how
can
the
‘gap’
in
training
be
eliminated?
There
are
two
broad
options:
more
specialism
within
the
existing
pre-qualifying
structure,
combined
with
well-resourced,
mandatory,
and
rigorous
post-qualifying
training;
or
separate
training
altogether.
This
latter
option
has
implications,
not
least
in
the
possible
erosion
of
the
social
work
values
underpinning
current
practice
and
the
whole
issue
of
a
national
service
divorced
from
social
work.
This
question
needs
addressing
urgently
if
social
work
is
to
maintain
its
central
position
within
the
Criminal
Justice
System.
James
Maybee
Criminal
Justice
Social
Worker,
Inverness
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