Refiections on Student Placement Experiences
| Published date | 01 June 1975 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455057502200204 |
| Author | David Warburton |
| Date | 01 June 1975 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
42
too
bad.
A
probation
officer
worth
his
salt
knows
that
to
care,
to
really
care
for
his
brothers,
means
blood,
sweat
and
grot-in
large
doses.
And
there
its
no
guarantee
of
&dquo;job
satisfaction&dquo;
or
&dquo;professional
develop-
ment&dquo;
at
the
end
of
the
day.
The
Editor’s
apparent
desire
to
create
an
image
of the
Probation
Service
that
is
acceptable
to
the
public
is
sadly
misguided.
Somehow
it
suggests
ours
is
a
Service
that
is
losing
its
zeal,
and
maybe
even
its
nerve.
We
do
not
need
a
new
word
to
replace
&dquo;care&dquo;.
It
is
quite
excellent
focussing
attention
as
it
does
on
the
true
role
of
the
Probation
Service
and
its
officers.
Any
more
bizarre
suggestions
like
this
and
we
shall
be
wanting
to
replace
the
Editor.
But
care---never!
ANTHONY
J.
WALKER
Comments
are
not
the
personal
opinions
of
the
Editor-if
they
were
he
would
probably
have been
replaced
long
ago!
He
is,
however.
willing
to
hand
over
at
any
time.
Refiections
on
Student
Placement
Experiences
DAVID
WARBURTON
Lancashire
CERTAIN
ex-students
of
the
CQSW
Course
at
Liverpool
were
asked
to
consider
what
we
wanted
from
practical
work
supervision
when
students:
whether
we
felt
our
needs
were
met
and
whether,
in
the
light
of
experience,
our
demands
were
appropriate.
I
have
set
down
in
this
article
my
own
feelings.
I
entered the
course
with
no
social
work
experience
whatsoever:
therefore,
my
expectations
of
social
work
were
probably
vague
and
hopefully
flexible.
I
did
not
face
the
anxiety-provoking
experience
of
finding
out
how
many
mistakes
I
had
made
over
the
years,
nor
was
the
role
of
student
social
worker,
both
on
university
and
on
placement,
particularly
difficult
to
adopt.
However,
I
did
start
the
course
with
some
preconceived
ideas
and
a
high
sense
of
idealism.
I
hope
that
some
of
my
idealism
persists
but
that
now
it is
in
perspective.
However,
it
was
rather
painful
if
thought-promoting
to
be
met
with
the
cynicism
of
some
social
workers
on
placement
and
I
do
mean
cynicism
rather
than
acceptance
of
the
reality
of
limitations.
None
of
my
supervisors
was
cynical
but
cynicism
was
certainly
present
in
other
members
of
staff,
particularly
where
case-loads
were
high
and
reorganisation
was
imminent
or
recent.
Of
necessity
ideals
were
set
high
in
theoretical
training
and,
as
a
student,
one
is,
or
should
be,
given
the
opportunity
to
work
at
an
optimum
level
within
one’s
own
abilities
at
a
particular
time.
Quality,
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