Psychoanalysis and probation practice: A brief additional perspective on Smith
| DOI | 10.1177/0264550507078155 |
| Date | 01 June 2007 |
| Published date | 01 June 2007 |
| Author | Herschel Prins |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Psychoanalysis and probation practice: A brief
additional perspective on Smith
Herschel Prins, University of Loughborough
Abstract The December 2006 edition of Probation Journal contained an article
by David Smith entitled ‘Making sense of psychoanalysis in criminological theory
and probation practice’. This paper attempts to extend the parameters of Smith’s
discussion.
Keywords concepts and practice, derivatives, forensic mental health, forensic
psychiatry, penology, probation, psychoanalysis, social work
As someone who entered the Probation Service in 1952, and who, since then,
has ‘laboured’ in the fields of both criminal justice and forensic mental health
(also termed forensic psychiatry), I was much impressed by Professor Smith’s recent
article on psychoanalysis and probation practice (Smith, 2006). In this, he provides
a fascinating and erudite depiction of the influences of psychoanalytic thinking
(both implicit and explicit) on probation practice from the 1950s through to more
recent times. While in no way suggesting any criticism of his account I would like
to offer some brief observations by way of extension.
The first concerns our understanding of Freud’s original work and the various
interpretations of psychoanalysis. Bettelheim makes the important point that a
good deal of what Freud said and wrote became distorted in translation from the
original into English; a distortion, in Bettelheim’s view, that sometimes even
defeated Strachey in his magisterial editing of Freud’s complete works (See Bettel-
heim, 1983, notably the Preface on pp. vii–xii).1Additionally, there is often
confusion between psychoanalysis as a form of treatment and psychoanalysis as
a way of thinking about human behaviour and its motivation.2Wilson (1995), a
psychoanalytic psychiatrist, puts it this way:
It comprises both a clinical method and a way of looking at the mind – a
technique, perhaps an art and a body of systematic observations, perhaps a
science . . . what it has to offer should be available to stimulate the imagination
and inform the thinking and practice of contemporary social workers. (p. 45)
171
Probation Journal
The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice
Copyright © 2007 NAPO Vol 54(2): 171–178
DOI: 10.1177/0264550507078155
www.napo.org.uk
http://prb.sagepub.com
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