The Law, Psychology and the Criminal
| DOI | 10.1177/026455055300602406 |
| Date | 01 November 1953 |
| Published date | 01 November 1953 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
A
RESTATEMENT
OF
PROFESSIONAL
STANDARDS
My duty to Courts I
adore-
Subject only to tact,
and
to Law,
Though
my clients may reel
I
must
simply reveal,
The
Whole
Truth,
no less
and
no more.
Though
they
put
on probation,
with
glee
Acripple aged
ninety
(Grade
C)
For failure to
halt
I
must
not
default
But
carry
him
out
loyallee.t
When
there's
trouble
with"
those in my
care"
They must never get
into
my hall',
But
always be viewed,
Though excessively rude,
With acharmingly
tolerant
air.
I
must
analyse
into
propriety
Delinquents of ever variety,
Poke
into
their
works
Understand
all
their
quirks
Till
they
yearn to fit
into
society.
However despairing my need,
From
all
taint
of corruption
I'm
freed:
When offered some money
My answer is:
"Honey,
I
take
it to save you from Greed."
My discretion
must
be beyond doubt;
I
must
hear
all, see all
and
say nowt;
My file on Blank
Blank
Is as safe as
the
B--k
(Until I decide to
payout).
Colleagues, too,
must
come in for a
share,
Of
the
merciful smile
that
Iwear
At
the
front
of my
head
For
the
weak
and
misled -
Especially those I
can't
bear.
And
then
there's
the
Trainee
(H.O'>
To be
taught,
In
the
way he should go,
Without any omissions
The
techniques
and
traditions
Of
the
Service,
the
Code
and
N.A.P.O.
My
standard
of living is low
But
my
standard
of life
must
be so
Uplifting
and
moving
That,
in hope of improving,
Gabriel
might
become a P.O.*
My skills I
must
always improve;
I
must
never sink
into
a groove;
Until age sixty-five
(If
it find me alive)
My codified load
shall
remove. FAYE SENDALL.
:l To the best of my ,abilltee.
• If,
that
Is, he could get past the Selection Board.
PROBATION FORUM
THE LAW, PSYCHOLOGY
AND
THE CRIMINAL
Your
report
of Mr. Guest's address
made
interesting
reading.
It
seems a pity, however,
that
Mr. Guest should
come down
rather
heavily
against
the
use of psychological
reports in
the
adult
courts; it is good
that
he does allow
their
value in juvenile cases. Much of
what
he says in
criticism of
these
reports
is, I fear, justified
but
there
appears
to be a
danger
at
this
present
time of
taking
extreme
attitudes
for
and
against
psychology.
Surely
what
we need is a balanced view, bearing In
mind
all
the
time
that
the
science of psychology Is approxi-
mately
where
the
science of medicine was about 150 years
ago.
Mr.
Guest uses an
argument
which seems to me a
fallacious one. He judges
the
Influence of psychologists
in public services by
the
yardstick of
whether
this
Inftu-
ence
has
"produced
asociety notably stabler, more
enlightened,
better
balanced or more law-abiding
than
that
which existed before
their
advent." One
might
equally so judge
the
use of
probation
or Indeed of
any
social service which
has
come Into being
during
this
cen-
tury
and
developed
particularly
during
the
last
25 years.
But
what
aperiod in history is used as a
yardstick!-two
global wars
with
their
shattering
impact
upon family.
social
and
economic spheres, one of
the
gravest
economic
crises ever known,
the
breakdown of stab1lity in
nearly
all
levels of life,
and
the
insecurity
that
Is
part
and
parcel
of
this
new atomic age.
It
is
trite
to say
that
we
are
living in a
changing
world, yet to counter Mr. Guest's
argument
it needs to be said.
It
is surely
true
to say
that
when
the
history of
these
times
comes to be
written
in
perspective,
this
century
will be seen as
the
bridge be-
tween one kind of world
and
another.
Is it fall'
then
to
judge
any
particular
social service by
what
society
has
been produced in
this
period,
and
this
brief time?
At
such
a
time
of
nuctuatlon
society needs all it
can
possibly call on in
the
way of people to help
shape
its
pattern.
The
fact
that
psychology is a new
and
develop-
ing science is no reason to
throw
it
out;
we should use it
sensibly, realising it is no
magic"
Open
Sesame"
to
the
cure of all ills
but
something which, like medicine,
can
sometimes help
and
sometimes not. Where it
can
always
help is in giving a
greater
degree of
understanding
to
case-workers
both
of
their
clients
and-what
Is of
para-
mount
importance-of
themselves. '
Finally. Mr.
Guest
appears
to
reject
psychology because
of its
"many
changes
of
front
and
disagreements upon
fundamentals"
and
goes on to list six different theories
of psychology over a period of time.
But
surely he could
equally level
this
criticism
at
medical science, philosophy,
and
religion. Does
that
rule
out
the
desirab1lity of using
any
of these spheres in
treatment
of delinquents? Mr.
Guest concludes by
stating
his view
that"
criminal
law
should spend its money on
policemen"
rather
than
psy-
chologists. I would be
the
last
to dissent from
the
need
for a numerically
stronger
police force
but
need it be
at
the
expense of those forces seeking to
gain
understanding
Into
the
cause
and
cure of anti-social behaviour? Might
there
not, perhaps, be
other
ways of raising
the
money?
M.M.THORNBOROUGH.
To continue reading
Request your trial