Reviews : Skills, Knowledge and Qualities
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058903600309 |
| Published date | 01 September 1989 |
| Date | 01 September 1989 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
felt
Skills, Knowledge
to receive too
much
attention, par-
ticularly sociology and psychology,
while others like criminology, senten-
and Qualities
cing and probation practice received
too little. Some subjects were badly
taught in the view of an alarmingly
Brian Williams, Lecturer in Social
high proportion of the sample; race
Work at Teesside Polytechnic,
issues, 41%, sex and gender, 39%, and
reviews Martin Davies’ research on
principles of sentencing, 35%.
the effectiveness of probation
The difficulty with suggestions for
training.
additional subjects for social work
training is that, in two-year courses,
In many ways, these studies are time-
many subjects already have to be
ly : some might say, long overdue. It is
skimped in the theotetical part of the
unfortunate that they have been
course. The
first study suggests the ad-
published at a time when social work
dition of sentencing theory, and the
academics (particularly those in the
respondents to Gwyneth Boswell’s
probation field) feel under attack -
study added breach procedure, public
and all the more unfortunate that the
speaking, English literature, salesman-
authors have been criticised for failing
ship (sit) and a number of other sug-
to design their studies in such a way
gestions. The response from trainers to
as to protect the interests that are
threatened.
many of these suggestions is likely to
In particular, the resear-
be,
chers’ decision
by all means, but how?
to make some of their
material available to David Coleman,
the Home Office appointee reviewing
Query Theory
The
the future of Probation training
respondents’ altitudes to
at
theory
par-
ticular
seem to be ambivalent. While there
colleges, has been questioned-
were some
They are
suggestions that more
open, too, to the allegation
that they have looked for the negative
theory should be included in training,
there was
aspects of Probation training and that
widespread criticism of the
it is hardly surprising that they have
...
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