The Common Room
| Published date | 01 December 1959 |
| Date | 01 December 1959 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455055900900408 |
| Author | E.A. Ellison,John E. Hayes |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
58
THE
COMMON
ROOM
By
JOHN
E. HAYES
The
scene
is
set
in
an
ill-lit
and
poorly
ventilated
room.
The
distemper
is
peeling
off
the
walls.
The
lino
covered
table
has
several
dirty
cups
as
well
as
a
stained
copy
of
yesterday’s
Daily
Telegraph.
The
chairs
are
all
very
much
the
worse
for
wear.
No
probation
officer
would
have
any
difficulty
describing
such
a
room
in
his
home
surroundings
report.
Enter
two
probation
officers
from
another
part
of
the
Probation
Oflices.
They
seem
curiously
unaware
of
their
surroundings.
The
younger
one
speaks.
jo
I
didn’t
really
expect
him
to
get
three
years.
SAM
There
wasn’t
much
else
they
could
do
with
him
was
there?
Jo
I
don’t
know.
Trouble
was
he’d
had
Probation
once
before.
The
Judge
said
he
had
had
his
chance ....
SAM
(interrupting).
Yes
I
got
out
his
old
record.
There’s
some
things
in
it
that
might
interest
you
Jo.
jo
Such
as’.’
SAM
Well
there’s
the
Old
Probation
Order
for
a
start
&dquo;Bound
over
in
his
own
recognizances&dquo;
and
all
that.
I
don’t
suppose
you’ve
ever seen
one
of
those.
JO
No.
I
don’t
suppose
there
are
many
about.
SAM
And
there’s
something
else.
You
know
that
new
idea
you
heard
about
somewhere
where
you
did
your
training.
Where
you
put
as
many
as
four
interviews
just
&dquo;Reported&dquo;
and
then
make
out
a
summary
of
them
all.
jo
Yes
instead
of
making
several
lines
of
something
for
every
interview.
SAM
That’s
right.
Well
the
old
Church
Army
chap
who
kept
this
record
did
just
that
all
these
years
ago.
(Enter
Peter)
PETER
What !
Records
again’?
jo
Well
we
have
to
keep
the
so
and
so
things
so
....
PETER
Well.
why
do
you
keep
records?
SAM
Keep
the
Inspectors
and
P.P.O.’s
busy
of
course.
JO
Stop
being
cynical.
The
Records
are
only
kept
so
that
you
can
do
better
casework.
Keep
an
idea
what
you
are
doing
and
where
you
want
to
get.
What
the
client
is
doing
to
help
himself.
How
you
react
on
each
other
and
so
on.
I
saw
one
of
those
old
records
the
other
day - not
so
old
either
only
about
six
years.
Full
of
entries
like
&dquo;Reported:
still
at
school&dquo;.
&dquo;Reported:
been
to
Blackpool&dquo;.
Didn’t
tell
anybody
a
damned
thing.
You
can’t
call
that
case-
work.
SAM
We’ll
lay off
the
casework
for
a
bit.
The
real
reason
why
you
keep
records
is
so
that
if
you
die
tomorrow
some
one
else
can
carry
on
where
you
left
off.
PETER
Now
just
you
take
that
record
we
had
transferred
in
the
other
day.
One
interview
took
over
a
full
page
and
there
were
none
less
than
half
a
page.
io
Now
thats
something
like
casework.
SAM
I
wonder.
Just
you
imagine
taking
over
sixty
records
like
that
and
trying
to
wade
through
them.
jo
They
wouldn’t
all
be
like
that.
PETER
Perhaps
they
wouldn’t,
but
look
what’s
happening.
We
are
all
following
out
these
records
with
lots
of
nicely
turned
phrases
and
blah
about
this
that
and
the
other :
treatment
plans :
who
ever
heard
such
rubbish?
:’
You
only
see
the
lads
for
about
quarter
of
an
hour
a
month.
Many
less
than
that!
What
sort
of
treatment
do you
do
in
that
time’?
SAM
And
another
thing,
who
ever
reads
it
all.
You
haven’t
time
to
check
through
them
all
carefully.
Its
a
quick
glance
at
what
you
said
last
time,
when
you
can
grab
a
typist
to
do
a
few
part
B’s.
PETER
At
least
we
are
so
far
behind
we
can
forecast
accurately
whats
going
to
happen
in
the
summary
for
the
next
three
months
-
its
already
happened.
Jo
Your
tea’ll
get
cold
if
you
don’t
drink
it
up.
But
don’t
you
two
think
the
records
do
any
good
at
all.
PETER
Its
time
somebody
stopped
long
enough
to
ask
what
its
all
about.
Just
plain
hard
facts
of
time
and
motion
study.
That
chap
in
PROBATION
last
month
reckons
it
will
take
him
six
months
to
read
his
case
papers
properly.
Now
what
is
the
good
of
doing
them
like
that’.’
If
his
predecessor
had
kept
to
the
bare
essential
poor
old
Bessell
could
have
got
the
hang
of
things
at
once.
Maybe
he
wouldn’t
have
got
all
the
finer
points
of
motivation
and
the
strengths
of
his
ties
with
his
poor
old
dad
or
the
weakness
of
his
oedipal
situation.
But
he
hadn’t
got
that
anyhow.
He
hasn’t
had
time
to
read
it
yet
(Peter
gets
his
pipe
out).
.m
Thats
all
very
well
but
how
can
you
anticipate
what’s
going
to
happen
if
you
haven’t
got
all
the
relevant
material.
SAM
What
exactly
do
you
mean’?
.m
Well
while
I
was
training
they
said
you
ought
to
be
able
to
tell
if
your
case
was
going
to
break
down.
I
remember
we
went
through
some
case
summaries
and
you
could
see
it
coming.
SAM
Let’s
take
this
step
by
step.
I
suppose
you
mean
get
into
fresh
trouble’.’
Commit
an
indictable
offence
for
example?
jo
Yes
I
suppose
I
do.
SAM
What
percentage
of
indictable
offences
are
reported
to
the
police?
o
Not
an
awful
lot.
I
know.
That’s
one
thing
they
taught
us
in
the
criminology
lectures.
SAM
I’m
glad
they
taught
you
something
sensible.
Statis-
tics
will
be
the
death
of
us
yet.
Do
you
remember
what
percentage
of
offences
known
to
the
police
are
cleared
up‘?
so
Yes,
about
half,
more
in
some
towns
I
believe.
SAM
So
now
we
have
it.
Little
sunshine
is
on
Probation.
You
have
to
predict
something
concrete - fresh
trouble.
To
do
this
you
have
to
predict
first
will
he
commit
an
offence.
Second
will
he
be
caught.
Even
on
offences
known
to
the
police
he’s
got
a
fifty
fifty
chance.
Perhaps
we
had
better
have
a
few
case
notes
on
the
psychology
of
the
detective
too.
PETER
Got
the
thing
going
at
last
(a
cloud
of
smoke
rises
to
emphasise
the
point).
You
see
what
it
comes
down
to.
Shorter
records-more
time
with
the
client.
Less
of
this
pseudo
psychiatry
Barbara
Wootton
talks
about.
o
Well
how
much
do
you
think
we
should
put
in
the
records.
PETER
Comes
back
to
what
Sam
said
earlier
on.
You
want
to
be
confirmed.
Write
what
you
think
the
bosses
want
and
hope
for
the
best.
They
want
the
records
to
come
alive,
whatever
that
means.
No
one
has
ever
shown
me
one
that
does.
They
want
to
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