Working with Men
| Date | 01 June 1996 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059604300212 |
| Author | Stephen Hornby |
| Published date | 01 June 1996 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
101
crime
prevention.
Each
essay
provides
a
historical
background
and
traces
how
the
changes
have
been
politically
led.
If,
like
me,
you
have
been
rather
bewildered
at
the
rapidity
with
which
policies
and
also
philosophies,
if
Michael
Howard
is
to
be
believed,
have
altered
over
the
last
three
years,
this
book
will
clarify
everything
and
probably
confirm
all
your
worst
fears.
It
is
helpfully
divided
into
three
sections;
the
issues
informing
practice,
the
contexts
within
which
the
practice
occurs
and
the
outcomes,
including
the
necessity
of
critical
evaluation
and
building
upon
good
practice.
These
latter
two
points
are
also
visible
within
each
essay.
The
book
does
not
fall
into
the
easy
trap
of
bemoaning
the
current
situation
and
reminiscing
about
the
’good
old
days’,
but
considers
past
practice,
recognises
the
validity
of
some
of
the
changes
and
highlights
current
good
work,
as
well
as
pointing
out
areas
which
could
usefully
be
explored
further.
It
is
this
which
lifts
the
book
from
the
straight
account
of
development
to
a
thought-
provoking
discourse
showing
how
we
can
still
develop
practice
and
even
policy
within
the
government’s
framework.
Although
I
felt
this
book
was
more
for
academics
and,
in
particular,
students
it
is
easy
to
read
with
clear
and
concise
arguments
and
explanations,
enlivened
by
some
quotations
from
probation
officers
(in
the
chapter
upon
the
essential
skills
of
social
work)
and
drawing
upon
personal
experience
of
the
authors.
It
does
not
provide
any
answers
for
officers
struggling
to
cope
with
large,
difficult
caseloads
and
excessively,
bureaucratic
paperwork,
but
it
does
stimulate
reflection
upon
where
we
are
both
individually
and
as
a
whole
Service,
and
where
we
may
be
heading.
I
must
add,
though,
that
despite
the
supportive
dedication
to
probation
officers
and
the
obvious
encouragement
to
us
all
in
the
final
chapter,
my
overall
feeling
was
a
lingering
sense
of
gloom.
Sarah
Bright
Probation
Officer,
Warwickshire
Working
with
Men
Tim
Newburn
and
George
Mair
(Eds),
Russell
House
Publisheng;
1996;
pp
153; £12.95
pbk
Working
with
men.
What
else
do
most
of
us
spend
time
doing?
Yet
the
very
formation
of
this
title
is
striking
because
it
draws
attention
to
what
is
so
ubiquitous
as
to
be
often
invisible.
The
erosion
of
the
gender
system
throughout
the
1990s
into
little
more
than
a
set
of
aesthetic
choices
has
seemed
to
leave
the
sex
statistics
for
the
commission
of
offences
largely
untouched.
That
twisted
irony
of
equal
opportunities,
a
women’s
crime
explosion
has
just
not
happened
(...or
maybe
not
happened
yet).
So
that
leaves
most
of
us,
most
of
the
time,
dealing
with
men
and
wondering
what
is
about
being
a
man
that
makes
men
more
likely
to
commit
crime.
How
and
why
are
some
forms
of
masculinity
so
criminogenic?
That
is
the issue
at
the
crux
of
this
diverse
collection
of
essays
which
aims
to
fill
the
void
between
abstract
sexual
politics
and
detailed
individual
training.
This
is
a
book
where
practitioners
detail
their
practice,
tell
you
what
they
do,
why
they
do
it,
and
what
values
they
think
are
implicit
in
their
work.
At
least
that’s
the
aim.
The
contributors
are
from
a
wide
range
of
backgrounds,
full-time
probation
officers,
trainers,
prison
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