Reviews : Probation Objectives: A Management View John Coker UEA Probation Monographs, 1988, £3.50 pbk, 41pp
| Date | 01 June 1989 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058903600208 |
| Published date | 01 June 1989 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
72
placements
there
is
a
risk
that
we
devalue
the
work
of
practical
work
groups
and
open
the
door
to
a
two-tier
scheme.
Perhaps
somewhere
there
is
a
tape
to
be
made
which
looks
more
posi-
tively
at
the
more
mundane
but
invaluable
part
of
community
service
schemes.
The
most
worrying
thing
of
all,
however,
(and
no
criticism
of
this
tape)
is
that
so
many
Services
have
been
prepared
to
spend
relatively
large
sums
on
promo
tapes
for
community
service
while
there
remains
practically
nothing
available
about
any
other
aspects
of
our
work.
Graham
Nicholls
SPO,
Workshop
Probation
Objectives:
A
Management
View
John
Coker
UEA
Probation
Monographs,
1988,
£3.50 pbk, 41pp.
There
are
three
distinct
parts
to
this
monograph:
the
sequence
did
not
flow
well
for
me
(I
had
to
read
it
twice
to
trace
the
flow),
and
it
served
as
a
reminder
of
how
difficult
it
is
to
con-
struct
a
coherent
piece
of
writing
by
extracting
material
from
a
much
wider
piece
of
academic
research.
Part
one
is
a
most
useful
outline
of
how
the
work
of
the
Probation
Service
became
very
diversified,
and
the
issues
thus
raised.
Consequently,
while
our
work
continued
to
expand,
proportion-
ally
the
use
of
the
probation
order
and
the
employment
of
qualified
main
grade
probation
officers
has
continued
to
decline.
New
provisions
have
failed
to
arrest
the
increase
in
use
of
custody
by
the
courts.
Part
two
shows
(from
Dr
Coker’s
own
research)
that
most
staff
of
all
grades
appear
united
in
the
idea of
diverting
most
offenders
from
custody,
and
in
the
belief that
it
is
right
that
a
Probation
Area
should
have
a
coherent
strategy
for
achieving
this.
However,
this
has
brought
considerable
costs
in
terms
of
a
much
higher
management
pro~Ie,
a
loss
of
sense
of
practitioner
autonomy
and
the
reduced
sense
of
job
satisfaction
when
professional
staff
feel
they
are
being
treated
like
navvies.
But
the
biggest
pressure
is
the
awareness
by
all
that
the
Home
Office’s
intention
to
use
the
Probation
Service
as a
Trojan
horse
to
influence
the
sentencing
prac-
tice
of
the
courts
shows
very
little
sign
of
success.
Because
of
this
failure,
Dr
Coker
argues
strongly
in
part
three
for
a
greater
sharpening
up
of
the
role
of
the
Service.
We
should
be
a
national
’Com-
munity
Supervision
Service’
with
a
clear
separation
and
rationalisation
of
the
Orders
we
supervise
into
Proba-
tion,
Day
Centre,
Hostel
and
Community
Service
(with
other
pro-
posals
for
prison
and
civil
work).
The
purpose
of
this
prescription
was
implied
rather
than
spelled
out,
I
felt.
He
seemed
to
have
previously
suggest-
ed
that
a
prime
objective
of
diverting
from
custody
could
never
succeed
with
the
courts
as
they
are
presumably
con-
stituted,
so
I
infer
that
he
proposed
more
of
the
same’
strategy
is
intended
to
enable
us
to
succeed
as
a
Service
whose
job
is
to
contain
offend-
ers
instead.
Such
a
destiny
is
only
too
plausible.
In
these
fast-moving
times,
any
top-
ical
debate
can
quickly
become
‘pas~
business,
so
it is
a
pity
that
the
thread
of
Dr
Coker’s
argument
was
not
better
spelt
out.
Less
of
a
monograph,
and
more
of
a
polygraph
which
(appropri-
ately)
revealed
some
assorted
truths.
Andrew
Bridges
SPO,
Newport,
Gwent
Facing
Physical
Violence
Glynis
M
Breakwell
Routledge/British
Psychological
Society,
1989;
£5.95
pbk;
114pp
This
is
a
timely
book
which
will
be
use-
ful
to
social
and
probation
workers
as
well
as
other
public
servants
and
their
trainers
and
managers.
It
is
written
in
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