Reviews : Tom Shannon and Christopher Morgan Black Swan, 1997; £6.99 pbk
| Author | Rob Canton |
| Published date | 01 March 1997 |
| Date | 01 March 1997 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059704400112 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
49
Basic
information
on
each
topic
is
provided,
including
a
brief
theoretical
framework,
and
reference
made
to
the
benefits
of
good
local
knowledge,
referrals
to
other
agencies
and
thorough
liaison
with
others
involved
in
providing
a
complete
service.
It
is
an
easy
read,
written
in
a
fairly
chatty
style
which
is
meant
to
convey
that
the
authors
understand
what
it
is
’really
like’.
However,
I
eventually
found
this
quite
tiring
and
almost
patronising,
with
its
regular
references
to
officers’
need
for
chocolate
and
gin
in
order
to
survive
a
normal
caseload.
If
that
were
really
the
case,
I
would
be
double
my
current
size
and
facing
a
terrible
hangover
every
morning!
The
book
gives
scenarios
of
difficult
situations,
for
example,
of
a
duty
officer
faced
with
a
drunk,
demanding
client
with
a
history
of
violent
offences,
and
then
suggests
methods
of
work
which
may
be
appropriate.
Unfortunately,
my
own
experience,
albeit
limited
to
just
2.5
years,
is
that
the
issues
addressed
are
far
more
complex
in
reality.
In
particular,
the
chapter
upon
risk
and
dangerousness,
perhaps
one
of
the
most
problematic
areas
with
which
we
are
still
grappling,
seems
superficial
and
over-simplified.
Those
clients
who
are
assessed
as
dangerous
normally
present
as
far
more
risky
than
the
case
scenarios
and
require
much
more
detailed
supervision
and
management
plans
than
those
suggested.
Should
first
year
officers
take
these
cases
as
the
average
dangerous
offender,
I
fear
they
would
soon
be
alarmed
by
the
level
of
risk
which
they
are
really
having
to
manage!
(The
issue
of
whether
or
not
first
year
officers
should
supervise
dangerous
offenders
is
another
matter.)
Overall,
my
feeling
is
that
this
book
is
too
basic
for
first
year
officers
and
even
second
year
students,
who
will
already
be
dealing
with
many
of
these
issues
on
placement.
Although
the
book
does
focus
clearly
on
practice
rather
than
theory,
its
oversimplification
detracts
from
it
and
does
not
fully
reflect
the
work
which
really
goes
on.
It
gives
a
good
insight
into
examples
of
work
and
would
be
interesting
for
those
with
little
knowledge
of
Probation,
but
I
do
not
think
it
would
be
particularly
helpful
to
those
already
involved.
Sarah
Bright
Probation
Officer,
Rugby
Understanding
Crime
Data:
Haunted
by
the
Dark
Figure
Clive
Coleman
and
Jenny
Moynihan
Open
University
Press,
1996;
pp
180;
£13.99
pbk
This
is
a
volume
in
a
new
Open
University
Press
series
of
introductory
texts
on
crime
and
criminal
justice.
While
acknowledging
that
’crime
data’
should
include
qualitative
and
other
material
which
tries
to
understand
the
meaning
of
behaviour,
the
authors
are
concerned
with
statistical
data.
Successive
chapters
review
the
Criminal
Statistics,
self-report
studies
and
victim
surveys.
There
is
a
reminder
that
these
are
complementary
and
not
rival
sets
of
data,
measuring
different
things
from
different
perspectives.
The
authors
distinguish
three
approaches:
realist
(statistics
as
more
or
less
accurate
representations
of
the
actual
amount
of
crime),
institutional
(statistics
as
social
constructs,
the
upshots
of
processes
and
interactions)
and
radical
(locating
these
processes
in
their
political
context).
All
this
is
discussed
thoroughly
and
sensibly.
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