Making Community Service into Service for the Community
| Author | Norman Richards,Gerald Maull |
| Date | 01 September 1982 |
| Published date | 01 September 1982 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058202900307 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
103
Making
Community
Service
into
Service
for
the
Community
Norman
Richards
and
Gerald
Maull
Community
Service,
Wiltshire
Community
service
can
be
relevant
both
to
the
offender
and
the
community.
Here
the
authors
describe
the
operation
of
a
CS
scheme
which
underlines
the
importance
of
positive
thinking
and
related
practice.
In
some
areas,
offenders
on
Community
Service
sweat
their
way
to
redemption
through
the
punishing
self-mortification
of
hard
work.
In
others,
a
’treatment’
model
applies,
with
caring
supervisors,
carefully
chosen
placements,
offender
support
and
occasional
casework
inter-
vention.
Where
resources
are
less
generous,
Community
Service
is
operated
in
a
purely
pragmatic
way;
the
offender
’does
his
hours’
and
goes
on
his
way.
The
Community
Service
for
Offenders
Scheme
does,
then,
vary
considerably
throughout
England
and
Wales.
Given
this
local
autonomy,
there
is
no
consensus
about
two
fundamental
ques-
tions
that
can
be
asked
of
the
theme:
(i)
What
is
the
purpose
of
Community
Service
for
offenders?
(ii)
How
is
this
purpose
to
be
realised
in
practice?
There
has
developed
a
notion
of
the
typical
-
or
perhaps
stereo-typical
-
range
of
community
service
work.
Pro-
jects
include
digging
pensioners’
gardens,
renovating
youth
club
huts
and
repaint-
ing
church
halls;
placements
typically
are
in
playgroups
or
day
centres
for
the
elderly.
Dictated
by
resources,
principles
(or
expediency)
and
the
presumed
quality
of
Community
Service
workers,
many
schemes
operate
along
such
lines
with
the
personal
or
institutional
outlooks
of
Community
Service
staff
superimposed
upon
them.
Supervision,
work
expecta-
tions
and
breach
policy
are
all
matters
that
may,
at
least
marginally,
still
vary
according
to
perspective
rather
than
expediency.
We
wish
to
discuss
two
points
con-
cerning
this
typical
view
of
Community
Service-one
philosophical,
one
practical
-and
from
there
detail
Wiltshire
Com-
munity
Service’s
analysis
of,
and
solution
to,
the
problems
raised
by
them,
and
so
illustrate
how
one
Community
Service
team
has
answered
the
above
questions.
A
Positive
Approach
to
CS
As
developed
in
Wiltshire,
the
purpose
of
Community
Service
is
to
provide
the
offender
with
a
’positive
experience’,
through
helping
the
’worthy
causes’
of
the
community:
voluntary
and
charitable
organisations,
the
elderly,
mentally
handicapped
and
disabled,
etc.
Less
emphasis
is
placed
upon
the
’negative
characteristics’
of
Community
Service
workers
(eg
that
they
are
in
need
of
punishment
/
care
/
rehabilitation)
than
upon
the
obverse-how
they
can
best
help
others.
Therefore,
work
is
neither
punishingly
hard
nor,
where
possible,
an
empty
experience
to
be
endured.
The
experience
of
Wiltshire
Community
Ser-
vice
should
provide
offenders
with
the
elements
upon
which
to
build
a
positive
identity.
By
being
placed
in
a
direct,
caring
relationship
with
a
beneficiary,
the
Community
Service
worker
is
able
to
give
and
so
accrue
the
’social
credit’
that
comes
with
such
caring.
This
can
at
To continue reading
Request your trial