Probation: Reclaiming a Social Work Identity
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059704400105 |
| Published date | 01 March 1997 |
| Date | 01 March 1997 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
32
Probation:
Reclaiming
a
Social
Work
Identity
Pursuing
their
concern
that
Probation
has
been
facing
a
crisis
of
identity,
Julian
Buchanan
and
Malcolm
Millar,
of
Merseyside
Probation
Service
and
the
University
of
Liverpool
Department
of
Social
Work
Studies,
argue
that
it
is
essential
that
the
Probation
Service
strives
to
preserve
its
social
work
identity,
together
with
principles
and
values
drawn
from
social
work
which
can
supply
a
rationale
for
judging
practice.
n
an
earlier
article
in
this
Journal’
we
argued
that
Probation
was
facing
a
crisis
of
identity
and
was
losing
its
social
work
base.
We
outlined
a
range
of
significant
factors,
not
least
being
the
move
towards
centrally
determined
prescriptivist
practice
and
the
removal
of
the
requirement
for
probation
officers
to
possess
a
Diploma
in
Social
Work.
Our
aim
was
to
provoke
open
discussion
about
the
difficulties
facing
the
Service
regarding
its
identity
and
purpose.
We
noted
that
a
major
concern
within
this
debate
is
the
relationship
between
social
work
and
probation
practice.
This
particular
issue
was
subsequently
highlighted
by
Drakeford
and
Vanstonel
and
was
addressed
by
Lisser3
in
a
letter
responding
to
our
article.
Our
aim
here
is
to
take
the
debate
a
stage
further
by
exploring
in
more
detail
the
argument
that
it
is
essential
that
the
Probation
Service
strives
to
preserve
its
social
work
identity.
We
are
particularly
concerned
to
oppose
the
idea -
expressed
by
Lisser
but
heard
increasingly
within
the
Service -
that
probation
practice
has
outgrown
its
relationship
with
social
work,
and
must
forge
a
new
and
separate
identity
if
it
is
to
survive.
According
to
this
view,
the
separation
of
Probation
from
social
work
is
no
bad
thing
because
it
addresses
the
reality
of
probation
practice
and
acknowledges
the
limitations
of
the
social
work
ethos
as
a
guide
to
this
’practical
reality’.
However,
we
shall
argue
that
there
is
a
fundamental
need
for
a
set
of
principles
and
values
which
would
provide
a
rationale
for
a
re-assertion
of
what
is,
and
what
is
not,
good
probation
practice.
The
concept
of
social
work,
as
we
shall
articulate
it,
supplies
such
principles
and
values.
As
a
first
step
in
the
discussion,
it
is
worth
briefly
reprising
some
of
the
contentious
developments
of
recent
years.
Probation: What Has
, r~
Why
has
probation
work
come
to
seem
so
different
from
social
work?
A
number
of
factors
are
relevant:
.
departure
from
the
aim
of
’advising,
assisting
and
befriending’
the
offender;
0
the
increased
importance
attached
to
assessing
risk
and
protecting
the
public;
0
the
increased
emphasis
upon
individual
responsibility
and
on
offenders’
faulty
thinking;
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