Mental Health Needs of Young Prisoners
| DOI | 10.1177/026455050204900217 |
| Published date | 01 June 2002 |
| Date | 01 June 2002 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
169
rather than confronted racism. Probation
practitioners are witnessing an increase in
double punishment in the courts, with
sentencers recommending deportation of
foreign nationals. Arguing strongly in
favour of completely open borders, Teresa
highlighted the inherent racism of all
immigration controls.
Bill Nash, a solicitor and former head
of the National Council for Civil Liberties,
talking about ‘Probation and Justice’,
examined how the relationship between
probation officers and clients has changed
in recent years. He argued that the
emphasis on enforcement has achieved
little other than a breakdown in trust that
prevents the client making progress. He
questioned the negative and judgemental
influence of pre-sentence reports obsessed
with risk assessment. Lively discussion
followed on how practitioners achieve a
balance when working with dangerous
clients, and on the failure of lawyers to
protect clients from zealous breach
proceedings, especially where the client
has been set up to fail.
Kevin Gorman, senior practitioner in
West Yorkshire and lecturer at
Huddersfield University, discussed
‘Changing the Narrative of the Probation
Service’, arguing that our experience of
the present is strongly influenced by our
understanding of the past and the futures
we foresee (i.e. the whole narrative we
construct). Kevin outlined a currently
dominant narrative of the Probation
Service:
“the past was a Teddy Bears’Picnic –
the job was easy and clients conformed
... the present is efficiency, cost-
effectiveness, standardised interventions
and breach; the future will be all
process – tick boxes will have
eliminated clinical assessments.”
We need to rewrite that narrative,
emphasise the existence of the care/control
debate, challenge the mythical success of
accredited programmes and identify viable
futures for the service. How do we
construct alternative narratives that can be
collectively owned?
Marilyn Gregory, lecturer in social
work at Sheffield University, argued that
constructive social work is ‘constructive
probation practice’. Advocating a return to
client-centred work where the relationship
between the client and the worker is the
key, Marilyn underlined the potential
benefits for both the client and
practitioner. Clients get the opportunity to
be listened to and to focus upon
achievable goals, regaining control over
their own lives. Practitioners can act as
imaginative, enabling and creative
influences, encouraging co-operative
exploration of positive attitudes towards
change, uncertainty, risk and doubt.
Refreshing stuff.
The conference provided a welcome
counterblast to the soul-destroying inertia
of breach targets and OASys forms. There
was no registration fee, all you had to do
was turn up and think of alternatives to
everything that makes you unhappy about
your job. Worth doing before it’s too late.
Charles McDonald
Probation Officer,
Cambridgeshire
Mental Health
Needs of Young
Prisoners
Anybody, who has worked with young
prisoners or who has a knowledge of the
research, will be in no doubt about the
high levels of mental health problems and
largely unmet mental health needs of
children and young people in secure
settings. This report usefully draws
together current research and practice in
this area and makes a number of
recommendations for change. It forms part
of a PRT programme of work aiming to
improve the response to young people
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