REVIEWS Comments, contributions and suggestions to The Editor, c/o Probation Office, Whitefriars, Norwich NR3 1TN : Work with Prisoners Brian Williams BASW Venture Press, 1991; £8.45 hbk
| Date | 01 March 1992 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059203900116 |
| Author | Mary Anne McFarlane |
| Published date | 01 March 1992 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
50
related
to
a
stage.
These
range
from
the
workers
taking
stock
of
themselves
through
to
the
action
where
the
group
takes
over.
Mullender
and
Ward
recognise
that
the
model
will
still
need
to
be
modified
and
redefined
and
that
it
must
not
be
allowed
to
remain
static.
Over
the
years
much
has
been
written
about
groupwork
practice;
some
good,
some
h5different
and
some
incomprehensible.
This
book
falls
in-
to
the
first
category.
It
is
easy
to
read
and
takes
into
account
a
feminist
perspective,
anti-r~.cism
practice
and
disability
problems.
The
only
niggle
is
that
price!
Paul
James
Probation
Officer,
Nuneaton
Work
with
Prisoners
Brian
Williams
BASW
Venture
Press,
1991; £8.45
hbk.
It
is
refreshing
to
read
a
handbook
on
work
with
prisoners
which
is
so
rich
in
consumer
perspective.
Williams
combines
his
research
with
prisoners
and
a
comprehensive
knowledge
of
the
history
and
practice
of throughcare,
in
a
guide
to
the
’Cinderella’
of
the
Ser-
vice.
This
book
will
be
of
great
benefit
to
field-based
officers
and
other
field
workers
in
its
concrete
suggestions
about
improved
pracice
at
all
stages
of
sentence.
There
are
strong
sections
on
foreign
prisoners,
families,
AIDS/HIV,
use
of
community
resources,
pro-
verelease
work
and
liaison
between
field
and
prison
probation
officers,
for-
ming
a
good
basis
for
work
with
the
Automatic
Conditional
Release
clients
after
October
1992.
Use
of
telephone
contact
with
clients
might
have
been
mentioned
as
it
is
so
often
ignored.
His
synopsis
of
the
history
of throughcare
traces
its
route
to
obscurity
in
the
priorities
of
the
Probation
Service.
There
is
a
somewhat
inconsistent
attitude
to
quantitative
research,
but
he
shows
an
impressive
grasp
of
the
con-
sumers
viewpoint
through
auto-
biography
and
qualitative
research
findings.
There
is
an
excellent
analysis
of
the
development
and
hazards
of
Shared
Working
with
prison
officers,
and
a
timely
critique
of
the
withdrawal
debate.
Various
systems
within
institu-
tions
are
outlined,
together
with
the
roles
of
the
different
workers
inside.
The
book
appeared
in
the
same
year
as
a
number
of
important
documents
on
Prisoner
Throughcare;
too
soon
to
comment
on
the
implications
of
the
Criminal Justice Act,
the
White
Paper,
Sentence
Planning
and
draft
National
Standards
for
Throughcare.
All
of
these
are
crucial
to
the
role
of
the
prison
pro-
bation
officer,
who
might
in
that
respect
find
the
book
rather
disappoin-
ting.
Two
major
throughcare
tasks
are
delineated;
contact
with
the
outside
community
and
confirming
the
prisoner’s
individuality
and
self-
respect.
It
would
have
been
helpful
also
to
integrate
the
tasks
of
assessing
risk
and
confronting
high
risk
behaviour
which
remain
marginal
in
the
book.
However,
they
are
central
to
the
task
of1he
prison
probation
officer
and
the
work
with
new
Discretionary
Conditional
Release
clients
by
field
and
seconded
officers.
The
section
on
anti-
discriminatory
practice
could
have
used
more
detail,
particularly
for
seconded
officers.
There
is
a
short
list
of
communi-
ty
organisations
and
a
comprehensive
reference
section.
In
general
this
is
a
clear,
practical
guide
and
makes
salutory
reading
for
all
those
involved
with
prisoners.
It
should
make
a
signifi-
cant
contribution
to
improving
practice
with
a
disillusioned
and
often
aban-
doned
section
of
probation
clients.
Mary
Anne
McFarlane
SPO,
HMP
Parkhurst
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