Reviews : Paying Back: Twenty Years of Community Service
| Date | 01 March 1994 |
| Published date | 01 March 1994 |
| Author | Judy Green |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059404100118 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
45
Paying
Back:
Twenty
Years
of
Community
Service
Dick
Whitfield &
David
Scott
(Eds)
Waterside
Press,
1993;
£12
pbk
This
is
a
collection
of
articles
from
contributors
who
include
research
officers,
an
academic
and
an
assistant
under-secretary
of
state
in
the
Home
Office,
but
who
are
mostly
CPOs.
Much
of
it
is
a
kind
of
celebration
of
the
success
of
Community
Service;
it
covers
lots
of
the
same
ground
in
slightly
differing
ways.
Sadly,
it
hints
at
some
contentious
issues,
but
doesn’t
really
tackle
them.
In
its
efforts
to
be
politically
neutral
it’s
at
risk
of
being
dull.
The
chapter
on
’Assessing
the
Impact:
Lost
Opportumties
and
the
Politics
of
Punishment’
by
Mark
Oldfield
stands
out
as
posing
the
question
of
Community
Service
really
being
a
failure
-
no
impact
on
the
use
of
imprisonment
and
giving
sentences
a
punishment-
orientated
disposal
when
they
may
have
used
a
less
punitive
outcome.
It
challenges
the
official
rhetoric
which
underpms
National
Standards.
It
gives
an
answer:
’restrictions
on
sentencers’.
Almost
all
of
the
contributions
draw
on
Gill
Mclvor’s
research
-
perhaps
her
work
should
have
been
included
in
the
book.
That
research,
summed
up
simpl~stically,
says
’quality
counts’
and
that
best
practice
maximises
contact
between
offenders
and
beneficiaries.
Who
benefits
is
crucial,
particularly
on
issues
of
race
which
are
not
significantly
addressed
m
the
book.
The
chapter
on
women
concludes
that
Commumty
Service
is
probably
received
by
those
who
would
have
got
less
intrusive
sentences.
Other
factors
that
we
know
affect
completion
rates
adversely
aren’t
raised.
Tucked
away
m
the
chapters
are
some
interesting
comments
on
European
comparisons,
and
evidence
that
m
North
America
CS
has
become
part
of
a
net-
widening
process.
There’s
a
cautionary
tale
of
what
happened
when
arrangements
were
contracted-out.
But
I
have
to
ask
myself,
is
there
anything
here
that
practitioners
haven’t
already
worked
out
for
themselves?
It
is
valuable
to
have
a
reminder
of
the
original
innovative
approach
to
those
placed
on
Community
Service:
’What
do
you
think
you
have
to
offer?’
My
main
criticisms
are
that
it
fails
to
grapply
with
role
boundaries,
and
in
chapter
9,
’Where
Next?’
by
John
Crawforth
we
are
urged
to
accept
the
appeal
of
the
combination
order!
It
mentions
the
Service’s
’vague
ideological
objections’
to
combination
orders,
but
sees
them,
m
part,
as
a
way
of
re-
integrating
the
work
of
probation
officers
and
workers
in
Community
Service.
Oh
dear!
Chapter
10
goes
on,
rather
neatly,
to
sum
up
Community
Service
as
the
plainest
example
of
’punishment
m
the
commumty’.
The
Service
needs
to
retain
(and
where
necessary
reclaim)
the
philosophy
of
CS
schemes;
as
chapter
3
states:
’the
least
harm
model
needs
to
be
at
the
forefront
of
policy-making’.
The
book
sets
out
to
celebrate
’two
decades
of
quite
astomshing
success’.
Maybe
it
does
that,
but
it
exudes
caution
and
it
doesn’t
show
the
courage
necessary
to
go
forward
in
today’s
political
climate.
Judy
Green
Probation
Officer
(CS),
Nottingham
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