The Management Ideal: A CPO's View
| Date | 01 September 1991 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059103800302 |
| Published date | 01 September 1991 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
The Management
Ideal: A CPO’s
View
Malcolm Lacey, Chief Probation Officer for Dorset,
explains his fundamental divergence of view from Bill
McWilliams on the realities of running a Probation
Service compatibly with the expectations of both
customers and consumers.
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_~ ~
, ~ ~ i
Work
A
probation officer phoned me recent-
ly about a parolee who had been
sentenced for a serious wounding; he
still denied the gravity of the offence
and it was still unexplained what had
provoked it. He was now being pro-
moted in his job and given charge of
a tool cupboard which contained,
amongst other things, knives of the
sort he had used in the wounding. He
reported this to the probation officer
who asked me whether he should in-
ill McWilliams
form the employer, as contained in the
has invited discussion and critcism of
County High Risk Procedure. It seem-
his article Probation Practice and the
ed very unfair as it might put his job
Management Ideal (PJJune 1990). The
in jeopardy. I said the employer must
issues he raised
be informed. The man
are important ones and
was
very angry
I
and
want to
was indeed
engage with them as a
given the sack -
though later offered his job back again
manager, though one who hopes that
after the
it is
probation officer’s interven-
not incompatible with being a pro-
tion. The
fessional leader. Some of what I
employer phoned back to
say
make a point of saying how relieved he
overlaps with and endorses Graham
was to have been told.
Shepherd’s reply (PJ December 1990),
The
point of the story is that there
but the core of what I have to offer is
is a Good Practice Guide setting out
to engage with McWilliams’ reply to
minimum standards which are man-
Shepherd and take issue with his state-
datory They seem necessary for the
ment ’that the only thing to do when
protection of the public. They also give
the worst of policy fashions appear on
a framework in which good practice
the scene is to hang on to the central
can occur, indeed, be facilitated. The
core of the social meaning of the pro-
reason for this is that individual judg-
110
bation system’.
ment can easily be swayed under the
pressure of a case like this and a struc-
whose own experience is of being
ture is supportive to the worker - just
disregarded, of being at the bottom of
as the protocols observed in surgical
the pile. The worker has the right to
operations are mandatory, and essen-
expect that the agency will give sup-
tial if a good operation is to be carried
port in dealing with these feelings.
out. These do not limit the skill of
the
Sometimes they can be talked about
surgeon but enable them to concentrate
and shared, other times not; sometimes
on those judgments which only they
they get acted out in other situations
can make. So it is with Good Practice
-
supervision, meetings, negotiations.
Guides. In this case, the action
However
we
formulate it (and this way
demanded by the Guide precipitated an
of expressing it clearly draws on the
emotional reaction which the skill of
work of Menzies’ , Miller and
,
the probation officer was able to use
Gwynne~, and the Grubb Institute)
in helping the man to confront, for the
the organisation has to absorb, digest
first time, his own dangerousness
and transform many destructive, unset-
which deep down he had known but
tling and sometimes frightening ex-
prison had colluded with him in ignor-
periences.
ing. Even if that outcome had not been
When we talk about the organis-
the case, it would still have been
tion, we are of course talking about
necessary for the proper protection of
ourselves, held together by a set of
the public.
roles and rules. The creation of a
Furthermore, the Guide also
culture in which this experience is
places a responsibility on headquarters
recognised, held and overcome is, I
managers to assume responsibility for
believe, a central task for management.
the initial planning in the case
It is why I think it is a mistake to sup-
alongside the staff member who takes
pose that the role of Chief Probation
day to day responsibility for the handl-
Officer can be held by anyone so long
ing of the case. This does not seem to
as they have had senior management
be experienced by staff as intrusive but
experience. The role requires an em-
rather as supportive. It is acknowledge-
pathic ability to enter into the basic
ment
that should anything go wrong,
transactions that have to be managed.
then responsibility can be taken at the
appropriate level. I do not really mind
Authority in the Agency
whether this is called management or
But there is more to
professional leadership. What does
running a modem
social welfare
need to be recognised is that decisions
agency. It must imple-
ment an Equal Opportunities Policy,
are being made at different levels of
have
discretion and each level requires its
proper health and safety pro-
cedures, an efficient administrative
own
level of authority to ensure that
the decision is carried out. This
system, and allocate staff and resources
was
in a
implicit in the probation officer’s
publicly accountable way. It is
phone call.
questionable whether these aims can
be realised unless one person is held
finally responsible. To carry that
Absorbing and Transforming
responsibility he or she has to be given
Another important point can be il-
commensurate authority, which means
lustrated from this story. Probation of-
having the final say where decisions are
ficers, assistants and hostel staff are
disputed. This entails a hierarchy of
exposed to some very negative ex-
decision-makers in accordance with
periences - vulnerability, anger,
classic bureaucratic theory. Having
...
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