The Differential Treatment Unit: Part II
| Author | Roger Vaisey |
| Date | 01 December 1976 |
| Published date | 01 December 1976 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455057602300404 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
108
Such
a
dialogue
would
of
course
include
relating
the
problem
search
to
the
offences.
It
has
become
clear
that
because
our
efforts
are
concentrated
on
achieving
a
task
any
obstacles
to
change
are
thrown
into
sharp
relief
(whether
they
are
in
the
client’s
behaviour,
or
situation,
or
both).
All
the
workers’
and
clients’
skills
and
resources
are
thus
brought
to
bear
on
overcoming
these
obstacles.
During
the
first
few
months
of
our
attempts
to
work
with
this
model
however,
officers
often
felt
deskilled
and
that
their
work
was
becoming
more
rigid.
It
was
evident
that
little
paired
working
or
work
with
families
was
taking
place.
Most
of
our
early
cases
concentrated
on
material
tasks.
Only
now
are
we
becoming
to
be
able
to
look
more
at
problems
or
tasks
defined
in
terms
of
emotions
and
relation-
ships.
In
interviews
we
slowly
are
becoming
more
skilled
at
working
with
the
tension
between
focusing
on
the
task
and
being
aware
of
other
aspects
of
the
interview.
We
are
beginning
to
be
able
to
look
at
a
few
cases
where
tasks
have
been
achieved
and
where
the
satisfactions
for
both
client
and
worker
have
been
very
great.
Thus
we
are
still
in
the
early
stages
of
adapting
and
using
this
model
in
our
work.
Each
officer
in
this
Unit
has
at
least
three
years’
experience
in
the
Probation
Service
and
it
is
interesting
that
other
agencies
have
confirmed
that
it
is
usually
the
more
experienced
workers
who
have
had
the
greatest
difficulty
in
adjusting
to
the
demands
of
short
term
work
and
in
particular
to
the
much
tighter
discipline
imposed
by
the
task
centred
model.
The
process
seems
to
be
one
of
unlearning
and
then
relearning
and
other
projects
have
suggested
that
when
more
experienced
workers
can
use
this
model
their
greater
skills
are
further
enhanced
by
it.
The
Differential
Treatment
Unit:
Part
II
ROGER
VAISEY
Inner
London
MY
intention
is
to
give
some
idea
of
what
it
feels
like
to
work
in
this
Unit,
and
what
it
is
like
to
work
with
probation
clients
in
a
short
term
way.
What
I
say
is
a
compilation
of
some
of
my
own
and
my
colleagues’
experiences.
We
are
used
to
jibes
and
quips
from
neighbouring
probation
offices
which
run
something
like
&dquo;The
DTU
is
a
sleigh
ride,
a
probation
officer’s
holiday-no
after-care-no
tedious
Borstal
or
DC
supervision-no
parole
-no
court
duty-no
office
duty-just
up
to
twelve
six-month
clients
each&dquo;.
This
is
one
of
the
burdens
of
a
special
project.
From
within
there
is
an
underlying
anxiety
that
we
must
succeed
and
live
up
to
the
expecta-
tions
of
our
headquarters.
From
without
there
is
mild
jealousy
about
our
special
and
seemingly
favoured
status.
All
this
can
lead
to
quite
a
lot
of
tensions.
Some
of
us
feel
we
work
much
harder
with
our
12
cases
than
when
we
worked
in
traditional
offices
with
case
loads of
40
upwards.
Nevertheless
these
tensions
and
anxieties
seem
to
act
as
a
creative
spur.
There
is
little
time
to
sit
back
and
relax
during
a
day
and
I
often
feel
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