Reviews : Probation as an Alternative to Custody Peter Raynor Avebury, 1988, 202pp, £22.50
| Published date | 01 December 1989 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058903600410 |
| Author | Ann Celnick |
| Date | 01 December 1989 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
REVIEWS
Comments, contributions and sugges-
tions to The Editor, Probation Office,
Whitefriars, Norwich NR3 1TN,
Tel (0603) 624155
Happy Families
justifies its ’anti-poverty’ claim is less
clear. Accompanying the video is a
Swingbridge Video
series of information sheets about
Norden House, 41 Stowell Street,
benefits, the credit industry and loan
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE1 4YB, £45
sharks and, finally about food co-ops
(or £10 daily hire), 26 minutes
and organising a tenants’ rights group.
These are fairly basic and would pro-
Amid the gloom of current social work
bably require considerable additional
practice, anything that calls itself ’an
knowledge to use effectively. Moreover,
anti-poverty video package’ causes the
generally they offer few positive sug-
spirits to rise a little. It follows a fic-
gestions for combatting long-term
tional Tyneside family -
unemployed
poverty. Nevertheless, I am sure that
father and teenage son, working
the package could be used with groups
mother and single-parent daughter -
of clients, perhaps as part of a welfare
as they struggle to make ends meet. It
rights course or as a discussion starter
deals with the stresses on traditional
in a less specific setting.
family roles as father struggles with the
Graham Nicholls
loss of self-esteem brought about by
long-term unemployment while his
SPO, Worksop
wife exhausts herself in a low-paid job,
the increasingly inadequate level of
Probation as an
benefits for the maintenance of even
Alternative
basic
to
necessities and the desperation
which leads to the loan shark.
Custody
While the story itself raises a
wealth of discussion material, it is
Peter Raynor
interspersed from time to time with
Avebury, 1988, 202pp, £22.50
interview material featuring claimants
whose stories reinforce the
The Probation Service
message
can point to
that once you fall into the poverty trap
many examples of innovative practice
it is very difficult to escape.
over the years but, as the Audit Com-
...
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