Reviews : Enquiries into Community Probation Work
| Published date | 01 September 1988 |
| Author | Peter Simpson |
| Date | 01 September 1988 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058803500308 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
101
of
capital
punishment
and
the
increase
in
sentence
lengths.
The
central
importance
of
good
staff
relationships
is
emphasised,
whatever
benefits
might
ensue
from
the
development
of
°
the
new
generation
of
prison
architects,
There
is
a
contribution
from
Dr.
John
Coker
on
the
role
of
the
Probation
Service,
drawing
heavily
on
the
research
he undertook
for
his
book
Licenced to
Live.
The
collection
represents
a
valuable
addition
to
the
literature
on
the
management
of
the
long-term
prison
population
-
and
should
be
required
reading
for
all
those
in-
volved
in
the
through
care
of
such
prisoners.
IAN
WHITE
ACPO,
Jarrow
Flowers
In
Hell
BARNEY
BARDSLEY
Pandora
Press,
1987;
£5.95;
pb;
pp
196
You’ve
watched
the
TV
series;
now
read
the
book.
Women
criminals
do
still
commit
finan-
cial
offences
for
gain,
out
of
need,
because
they’re
desperate
and
can’t
make
ends
meet.
This
book
goes
on
to
describe
other
motives
for
female
crime.
Women
offend
for
kicks,
out
of
anger,
because
they
know
they
can.
Beating
the
system
becomes
possible,
then
profitable,
then
boring
and
all
the
time
authority
thought
you
had
settled
for
the
limitations
of
the
role
which
it
had
offered
you.
Talk
about
biting
the
hand
that
feeds
you_
Barney
Bardsley’s
attempt
to
understand
female
criminality
seems
to
agree
with
the
im-
mortal
Mae
West’s
assertive
and
sexual
challenge
’When
I’m
good,
I’m
very
very
good
but
when
I’m
bad,
I’m
better’.
The
book
throws
open
a
window
on
the
gloom
of
assumption
and
prejudice
and
lets
in
air
and
light.
Simply
writ-
ten
and
easy
to
read,
drawing
on
auto-
biographical
material,
this
is
a
concise
and
satis-
’&dquo;
fying
read.
Its
satisfaction
lies
in
the
reality
which
underpins
its
material,
unpalatable
though
this
may
be
to
some
who
will
find
the
effect
of
the
book
rather
resembles
the
surgical
knife
to
an
abscess.
The
book
is
not
clinical,
however,
and
it
is
optimistic
in
its
portrayal
of
the
variety
of
the
human
spirit.
That
women,
responsible
for
the
financial
burden
of
most
single
parent
families,
should
find
themselves
paradoxically
the
most
disad-
vantaged
sector
of
society
-
disenfranchised
and
living
on
the
poverty
line,
it’s
not
surpris-
ing
that
the
intelligent
make
c6nscic~~
choices
to
survive.
Her
expose
of
the
way
in
which
women
are
tried,
convicted
and
treated
is
equally
compell-
ing.
The
process
humiliates,
impersonalises,
in-
fantices,
medicalises,
tranquillises
but
rarely
stabilises.
SHEILA
WHITE
SPO,
HMP
Askham
Grange
Enquiries
into
Community
Probation
Work
BOB
BROAD
(ED)
Cranfield
Press,
1988;
£4.95;
pb;
pp
76
.
Six
papers,
presented
to
the
1986
Cranfield
Institute
Workshop
’Community
Probation’,
grouped
into
two
sections,
one
describing
prac-
tice
and
the
other
emphasising
policy
questions.
The
Brixton
team
contrasts
totally
with
the
North
Bedfordshire
approach:
In
Brixton
each
probation
officer
has
his
own
’patch’,
and
a
core
element
of
work
is
forging
close
links
with
com-
munity
organisations,
to
the
extent
of
becom-
ing
key
members
of
management
committees.
This
was
a
direct
response
to
the
Service’s
feel-
ing
of
remoteness
from
local
people
and
to
the
riots
and
the
Scarman
Report.
In
Bedfordshire
two
teams
re-organised
into
an
intake
and
client
services
team,
providing
a
differential
service,
relying
heavily
on
the
use
of
community
resources
for
that
provision.
This
arose
out
of
staff
dissatisfaction
with
a
traditional
’casework’
model.
A
rigorous
objective
analysis
of
two
fun-
damentally
different
approaches
to
the
relation-
ship
of
the
Service
to
the
community
would
have
made
fascinating
and
educative
reading.
However,
the
papers
presented
separately,
leave
readers
to
examine
critically
the
descrip-
tive
accounts.
Three
of
these
papers
have
been
previously
published
in
some
form,
so
this
book
represents
a
useful
colation rather
than
new
advances.
It
does
highlight
the
value
of
tailoring
service
to
local
conditions,
provided
it
is
based
on
careful
collection
of
information
and
a
precision
in
aims.
PETER
SIMPSON
SPO,
Merseyside
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