Video Conferencing
| Date | 01 September 1996 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059604300322 |
| Published date | 01 September 1996 |
| Author | Kim Suttle,Mark Briscoe |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
179
which,
at
least,
were
ancestors
of
today’s
human
beings.
It
follows
that
the
assertion
that
Africa
is ‘the
birthplace
of
all
humanity’
is
unsustainable,
and
a
gross
distortion
of
reality.
Ameke’s
scholarship
is
non-existent.
Not
a
single
date
is
put
in his
scheme
of
things.
He
implies
all
of
Europe
was
covered
by
the
Ice Age.
Not
so;
only
a
part
of
Britain
was
covered.
Ice
did
not
cover
the
southern
part
of
present
day
England
nor
the
lands
further
south
towards
the
Mediterranean
basin.
One
could
write
at
far
greater
length
about
the
defects
in
Ameke’s
article,
but
that
would
only
serve
to
give
it
a
status
it
does
not
merit.
I
shudder
to
think
of
what
rubbish
awaits
us
in
Part
II.
IfAmeke
still
clings
to
the
notion
of
black
pre-eminence,
perhaps
he
would
care
to
explain
to
us
Ancient
Egypt’s
well
documented
preference
for
incest
and
slavery.
Ian
Lambert
Probation
Officer,
Reading
A
Better
Place
As
a
retired
probation
officer
who
used
to
work
in
Pontypridd
and
was
part
of
the
Mid-Glamorgan
Probation
Service
when
it
adopted
the
STOP
programme,
I
was
very
interested
in
the
research
on
individual
supervision
reported
in
PJ
June
1996.
Most
of
my
working
in
probation
was
with
’individual
clients’,
and trust
between
client
and
myself
was
the
basis
of
contact.
As
a
result
about
99%
did
not
re-offend
during
the
order,
and
the
reason
given
by
most
was
’I
did
not
want
to
let
you
down’.
Sadly,
groupwork
clients
often
did
not
know
who
their
allocated
probation
officer
was
during
their
period
of
group
supervision,
leading
them
in
theory
to ’individual
supervision’
afterwards.
I
accept
this
may
be
a
rather
simplistic
attempt
to
give
individual
supervision
a
better
place
in
probation,
but
my
hope
is
that
this
skill
will
not
be
lost
completely
as
a
consequence
of
present
Home
Office
policy
to
reduce
probation
training
or
to
change
the
job
to
a
policing
function.
Keep
up
your
good
work
to
keep
probation
the
profession
it
must
continue
to
be.
EA Williams
Previously Mid-Glamorgan PS
Video
Conferencing
While
on
placement
at
Shrewsbury
prison
we
were
introduced
to
video
conferencing,
an
innovation
from
the
United
States
now
being
tested in
the
criminal
justice
system
here
which
appears
to
have
considerable
positive
potential
for
courts,
prisoners,
lawyers
and
prison
staff
alike.
The
technology
allows
persons
remanded
to
custody
to
link
up
with
courts
for
routine
remand
appearances
or
bail
applications
without
the
expense
and
inconvenience
of
being
transported
for
a
personal
appearance.
In
addition
to
improvements
in
efficiency
and
decreased
security
risks
in
pre-trial
procedures,
video
conferencing
has
the
capacity
to
facilitate
discussion
between
prisoners
and
their
legal
representatives,
long
distance
pre-sentence
enquiries
and
throughcare
contact
by
the
Probation
Service,
training
programmes,
inter-prison
visits
and
visits
between
sex
offenders
and
their
children
where
Social
Services
feel
that
personal
contact
may
pose
a
risk.
The
Home
Office
has
recently
requested
Shrewsbury’s
co-operation
in
arranging
a
link
with
New
York
in
extradition
proceedings.
Concern
may
be
felt
about
the
potential
breach
of
confidentiality
when
using
video
conferencing
but
the
system
in
use
in
this
country
is
more
secure
than
the
average
telephone
line
and
transactions
would
not
be
recorded.
Another
worry
concerns
the
potential
increase
of
prisoner
isolation
but
initial
research
by
the
US
Department
of
Criminal
Justice
in
1986
indicated
that
72%
of
prisoners
felt
that
video
conferencing
was
a
good
idea.
Over
78%
were
happy
with
their
experience
of
the
system
while
84%
considered
that
their
case
had
been
dealt
with
more
promptly
because
of
video
conferencing.
In
sum,
the
advantages
appear
to
outweigh
the
drawbacks.
Mark
Briscoe
and
Kim
Suttle
Probation
Trainees,
Keele
University
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