Probation Forum
| Published date | 01 March 1979 |
| Date | 01 March 1979 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/026455057902600106 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
24
PROBATION
FORUM
CASUAL
TALK?
My
eyes
have
been
opened,
thank
you
Kenneth
Howe.
(&dquo;The
Casual
Approach:
Probation
Officers
in
Court&dquo;,
Probation
Jourrzal
Vol.
25
No. 4,
Dec.
1978).
I
will
immediately
seek
to
galvanise
my
fellow
students
into
action,
the
emphasis
of
social
work
education
must
be
changed.
The
pursuit
of
psycho-
logy,
sociology,
deviancy,
social
administration,
etc.
is
quite
obviously
irrele-
vant.
We
should
concentrate
on
elocution,
deportment,
and
dress
sense.
The
subtle
distinction
between
class
and
environmental
determinism
at
present
escapes
me
(please
supply
further
details),
but
I
now
see
that
society
is
not
unequal
and
that
I
can
forget
about
any
need
for
working
class
action.
Discord
is
created
through
the
absence
of
good
manners,
courtesy
and
cordial
relations.
I
am
told
that
Marx
never
said
&dquo;please&dquo;
or
&dquo;thank
you&dquo;.
Typical.
P.
J.
GLANFIELD
Post-Graduate
Section,
Dept.
of
Applied
Social
Sciences,
MORE
CASUAL
TALK?
University
of
Nottingham
MORE
CASUAL
TALK?
May
I
refer
to
Kenneth
Howe’s
article
about
probation
officers
in
court
(Probation
Journal,
December
1978).
So
probation
officers
are
casual
now;
and
in
the
style
of
a
new
testament
parable,
we
are
told
that
if
a
judge
feels
suspicious
about
a
scruffy
witness,
what
on
earth
is
he
going
to
think
about
a
probation
officer
in
jeans
or
a
’mod’
suit?
(Can
someone
fill
me
in
on
how
to
identify
a
’mod’
suit?).
Probation
officers
are
accused
by
Mr
Howe
of
not
observing
the
conventions
and
formalities
of
court
procedures,
and
because
of
this,
they
are
sometimes
not
taken
seriously
by
judges.
But
surely
this
can
be
our
special
contribution
in
the
court
situation.
Not
being
bound
by
rules
concerning
’leading
questions’
or
strict
rules
of
evidence,
we
can
bring
humanity,
common
sense
and
vitality
to
a
court
room
often
dominated
by
those
engaged
in
pompous
posturing
(who
also
usually
wear
smart,
if
not
even
sombre
clothes).
Judges
may
well
not
have
confidence
in
a
probation
officer
in
jeans
but
if
you
pardon
the
extended
metaphor,
this
is
merely
a
superficial
peg
on
which
a
judge
can
hang
his
robe.
It
may
be
more
truthful
to
say
that
he
does
not
have
confidence
in
the
Service’s
ability
to
do
what
it
says
it
will
do
in
a
social
inquiry
report,
or
a
guardedness
as
to
whether
the
Service
can
carry
the
court’s
authority
into
the
officer/client
relationship.
If
an
officer
has
confidence
in
himself
and
his
client
to
fulfil
these
tasks,
then
it
will
be
patently
obvious
to
a
wise
and
learned
judge-whether
the
officer
is
wearing
pin
stripes
and
white
shirt
or
sporting
levis,
running
shoes,
and,
dare
I say
it-one
earring!
I
think
Kenneth
Howe
could
do
an
even
better
job
at
Manchester
Crown
Court
if
he
encouraged
his
officers
to
show
their
individual
identity
with
con-
fidence,
clarity,
and
sense
of
purpose.
RUIH
COLTOFEANU
Probation
Ofhcer,
Epsom,
Surrey
P.S.
This
letter
comes
from
a
26-year-old
female
who
does
not
even
possess
a
pair
of
denim
jeans
and
who
is
normally
seen
in
court
modelling
Marks
and
Spencer’s
latest!
LOSING
FAITH?
The
article
&dquo;Sentenced
to
Social
~’Vork?&dquo;
(Probation
Journal,
December
1978)
was
discussed
at
a
staff
meeting
of
officers
working
at
the
&dquo;monolithic&dquo;
Friar
Lane
Office
in
Leicester.
Reaction
proved
to
be
mixed
and
ranged
in
To continue reading
Request your trial