Reviews : From Arrest to Release: The Inside/Outside Survival Guide Shirley Cooklin Bedford Square Press, 1989, £6.95, 208pp
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058903600413 |
| Published date | 01 December 1989 |
| Date | 01 December 1989 |
| Author | Owen Wells |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
189
schemes
was
never
achieved,
which
is
not
to
deny
the
work
and
training
ex-
periences
that
were
provided
for
a
significant
number
of
individuals.
Essentially,
though,
this
was
a
short
term
gain
for,
in
the
long
term,
par-
ticipation
in
such
schemes
had
little
ef-
fect
on
bargaining
powers
in
local
labour
markets.
’People
were
left
to
move
within
what
may
be
termed
a
secondary
market
for
unskilled
and
surplus
skill
work
which
is
supported
at
relatively
low
wage
levels
by
govern-
ment
finance’,
thus,
perhaps,
endors-
ing
NAPO’s
mistrust.
This
work
provides
an
interesting
and
thoughtful
read
on
a
topic
that
pro-
bation
officers
work
with
everyday.
It
is
carefully
written
and
guarded,
pro-
viding
no
simple
explanations
and
not
claiming
to
offer
any
simple
solutions.
Much
of
the
comment
and
assessment
may
seem
predictable
yet
it
is
helpful
to
have
it
available
and
based
on
careful
analysis
Charles
Dodd
SPO,
Inner
London.
Privatisation
and
the
Penal
System
Mick
Ryan
and
Tony
Ward
Open
University
Press,
1989
’Privatisation’
has
become
very
familiar,
carrying
a
strong
emotional
and
political
charge.
This
makes
it
dif-
ficult
to
assess
and
predict
accurately
how
such
a
process
might
apply
to
the
British
criminal
justice
system.
This
book
makes
a
good
job
of
examining
the
background
philosophy
and
the
implications
of
the
Government’s
drive
to
remove
parts
of
the
system
from
the
public
sector,
by
comparing
the
American
experience.
Their
detailed
account
of
the
system
in
the
USA
shows
how,
after
over 1.
decade,
such
developments
have
proved
modest
in
scale,
expensive
in
cost
and
highly
dubious
in
terms
of
civil
rights.
They
highlight
the
overtly
political
nature
and
commercial
type
of
lobbying
which
is
now
behind
British
proposals
for
private
prisons
and
other
measures.
Closer
to
home,
there
is
a
less
well
argued
but
highly
topical
discussion
of
non-custodial
aspects
of
the
criminal
justice
system.
Indeed,
the
political
and
moral
dilemmas
in
supporting
the
’voluntary’
and
’non-profit
making’
sectors
are
acute
and
there
is
a
high
risk
of
profit-making
and
commercial
intru-
sion
The
authors
spell
out
these
dilem-
mas
with
care
but
do
not
do
justice
to
the
special
risk
such
developments
hold
for
women
and
black
people,
eg
within
remand,
welfare
and
halfway
houses,
juvenile
programmes,
bail
hostels
etc.
NAPO’s
part
in
the
response
to
the
Green
Paper
proposals
is
included
within
an
analysis
of
how
greater
ac-
countability
is
needed
in
all
sectors
of
the
penal
and
criminal
justice
system.
This
analysis
is
not
fully
developed
and
whilst
the
ethical
arguments
over
mak-
ing
profit
out
of
punishment
are
clearly
put,
it
is
not
integrated
into
the
argu-
ment
throughout
the
book.
Overall,
though,
a
readable,
provocative
book.
Keith
Skerman
Assistant
Director,
SCODA
From
Arrest
to
Release:
The
Inside/Outside
Survival
Guide
Shirley
Cooklin
Bedford
Square
Press,
1989,
£6.95,
208pp
Occasionally
one
comes
across
a
book
of
such
obvious
utility
that
one
wonders
why
it
has
not
been
written
before.
When,
as
an
added
bonus,
it
turns
out
to
be
written
with
an
admir-
able
simplicity
and
clarity
it
is
almost
too
good
to
be
true.
From
Arrest
to
Release
is
almost
faultless.
In
plain
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