A Changing Service: The Case for Separating 'Care' and 'Control' in Probation Practice

Summary Change has heightened contradictions inherent in the probationservice's functions. The effects of this on officers' behaviourare described and a new conceptualization of the relationshipbetween care and control is offered. It is argued that modelsof possible future developments for the service must addressthe impact of work function and work context on practice, andan example of an alternative approach to the future is provided.     

The Objectives of the Probation Service

Summary Two kinds of objective are identified: an organizational objectiveconcerned with efficiency, and a functional objective concernedwith the effectiveness of the service. Increasing responsibilitiesin respect of social enquiry work, parole, after-care and prisonwelfare have been absorbed remarkably smoothly during the 1960s,and even the inevitable administrative changes have been lessdisruptive than might have been anticipated. Any discussionabout the 'effectiveness' of the probation service highlightsthe need to clarify its purposes and its functions. It is arguedthat, although most officers would accept that their primaryfunction is and has traditionally been that of exercising oversightover the offender on behalf of the court and the community,there are unmistakeable signs that pressure will be broughtto bear on the probation service to adopt a more treatment-orientatedapproach. The switch to such a correctional role is bound todisturb the organizational objectives of the service, and raisequestions about the place of casework theory in the trainingand supervision of probation officers     

Probation Practice, Effectiveness and the Non-Treatment Paradigm

Correspondence to Dr Peter Raynor, Department of Social Policy and Applied Social Studies, University of Wales, Swansea SA2 8PP. Summary This paper reports interim and largely positive results fromthe continuing evaluation of ‘Straight Thinking on Probation’,a substantial intensive probation programme in Mid-Glamorganbased on the work of Robert Ross et al. (1988) in Canada. Thepotential effectiveness of this type of programme is then discussedin relation to the influential model of the probation service'srole advanced by Bottoms and McWilliams in their 1979 ‘non-treatmentparadigm’. Are such programmes ‘treatment’,based on a model of offender pathology and therefore in conflictwith the paradigm, or are they ‘help’, based ona model of empowerment? An attempt to answer this question alsorequires consideration of how far the ‘non-treatment paradigm’was itself a response to perceived ineffectiveness requiringrevision in the light of new evidence. It is argued that suchrevision need not threaten the underlying moral philosophy ofthe paradigm.     

Quality Assurance, Pre-Sentence Reports and the Probation Service

Correspondence to Dr Peter Raynor, Applied Social Studies, University of Wales, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP. Summary During the months immediately preceding the implementation ofthe 1991 Criminal Justice Act the Home Office commissioned astudy of quality assurance and quality control procedures usedby probation services in their work on social inquiry reportsand in their preparation for the change to pre-sentence reports.This paper summarizes the results of that study, which includeda survey of current practice in probation services and the developmentof a quality control instrument for assessing the quality ofpre-sentence reports. It is emphasized that the views expressedin this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily thoseof the Home Office.     

Researching Risk in the Probation Service

This paper will draw upon research and consultancy experience across a number of projects on risk assessment and management in the Probation Service between 1993 and 1999. The projects reflect a range of sponsors and funders, from central government bodies such as the Home Office and the Scottish Office, to professional, managerial and employment bodies such as the Association of Chief Officers of Probation and the Central Council of Probation Committees, to individual Probation Service areas. The projects have required engagement with different levels of staff and different vested interests, including the professional/union bodies representing the management and officer grades respectively, in addition to central government policy makers. All the projects have had an applied policy and practice focus. The paper begins with a review of current ethical and political dilemmas in research on offender risk assessment, and then contemporary responses to ethical dilemmas are critically reviewed, followed by an outline of 'practice guidance' for researchers. The paper concludes by arguing that researchers in the social arena should be subject to the same standards of defensible decision making as their counterparts in social care practice, and that essential to such defensibility is the transparent demonstration of the 'grounds' upon which ethical decisions are made.     

Social Work Ideologies in the Probation Service

Summary The research described in this paper was an attempt to exploresome aspects of social work ideology in the probation service.We were particularly interested to identify the extent to whichprobation officers subscribed to certain ‘treatment model’assumptions about criminal behaviour. The project was designedas a small-scale study in depth of probation officers' socialinquiry practices. The data-collection methods used for thiswere a combination of depth interviews with probation officerswho also completed self-administered questionnaires. We foundthat some probation officers appeared to subscribe to ‘treatmentmodel‘ ideals more than others, but that all probationofficers were treatment orientated towards some of their casesand not to others. Their treatment preferences seems to relateto the seriousness of the offender's criminal history and personalproblems and the recommendation that was being made. Some ofthe implications of these findings for social work practicewere discussed.     

Perceptions of Staff Supervision in the Probation Service

Summary This study collates and comments upon the views of main-gradeprobation officers in West Yorkshire on the subject of staffsupervision. It shows that a majority of officers hold positiveopinions about supervision, provided that it is related to assistingthem in their main task of helping clients. The use of supervisionas a means of administrative control over standards of workis acceptable only to a minority of officers. The article includesa detailed analysis of the content of officers' own definitionsof supervision from which many examples are quoted. It showsalso the degree of importance accorded to supervision in relationto other probation officer and senior probation officer functions.     

意识形态在对外政策中的作用

意识形态在对外政策中的作用是国际关系研究中的一个重要的理论和现实问题。本文从意识形态涵义、特点和功能入手 ,探讨意识形态与对外政策的关系及意识形态在对外政策中的作用。本文的主要观点是 :首先 ,意识形态通过影响决策者对国家利益的判断而影响国家对外政策的目标选择 ,如果意识形态导致国家对其利益的错误认识 ,意识形态将损害国家的现实利益 ;其次 ,由于任何意识形态都包含有道义和理想化的政治目标 ,它可以为国家的对外政策提供道义上的支持 ,使对外政策显得合理、正义 ;第三 ,由于以意识形态的吸引力来实现对外政策目标成本最低而成效最持久稳定 ,所以 ,意识形态可以成为实现对外政策目标的最高明的手段。     

意识形态在对外政策中的作用

意识形态在对外政策中的作用是国际关系研究中的一个重要的理论和现实问题.本文从意识形态涵义、特点和功能入手,探讨意识形态与对外政策的关系及意识形态在对外政策中的作用.本文的主要观点是:首先,意识形态通过影响决策者对国家利益的判断而影响国家对外政策的目标选择,如果意识形态导致国家对其利益的错误认识,意识形态将损害国家的现实利益;其次,由于任何意识形态都包含有道义和理想化的政治目标,它可以为国家的对外政策提供道义上的支持,使对外政策显得合理、正义;第三,由于以意识形态的吸引力来实现对外政策目标成本最低而成效最持久稳定,所以,意识形态可以成为实现对外政策目标的最高明的手段.     

Electoral Politics, Ideology and American Social Policy

This article addresses the politics of social policy in the context of the 2004 American presidential election. It examines the divisions in American society and their distinctive agendas. It also explores the record of the Bush administration on key social policy issues and shows how it relates to the broader conservative tradition as well as to the Clinton administration's reform of welfare. Finally, it examines the election results. The article argues that the Bush administration has a distinctive agenda on social policy issues and that its approach is likely to reduce further the role of the social government in the provision of social policy, by emphasizing market forces and philanthropy as well as cutting taxes. It also notes, however, that the Bush administration has taken a strong stance on traditional moral values and that its opposition to abortion and homosexuality is an important part of its political strategy.     

Child Welfare in the United States: Policy, Practice and Innovations in Service Delivery

Child welfare in the United States is characterized by numerous and complex problems. By reviewing child welfare policy and trends in the United States, this article aims to stimulate discussion about innovative approaches that could allow child welfare professionals, both in the US and internationally, to better meet the needs of children and families.     

Keeping the Probation Service Whole: The Case for Discretion

Summary The function of the probation service has been the discretionarymanagement of the tension between control and care. There wasa time when officers could make these discretionary decisionswith relative confidence, but structural pressures, togetherwith the decline of the correctional/treatment model have madethis more difficult. This has led to arguments for the separationof control and care functions. A recent attempt has been madeto re-instate the correctional/treatment model and this is discussedbut found to be unconvincing. The author presents his own argumentfor retaining discretion and describes how he believes it shouldbe managed.     

Technicality and Indeterminacy in Probation Practice: A Case Study

Correspondence to Department of Law, Crookesmoor Building, Conduit Road, Sheffield S10 1FL, UK. E-mail: g.j.robinson{at}sheffield.ac.uk Summary ‘Technicality’ is a theoretical construct which,in the context of professional practice, refers to those aspectsof the work which can be prescribed, ‘programmed’or subject to routine practices. This paper considers the purportedrise of technicality in probation practice, with particularreference to the relationship between increasing technicalityand perceptions of ‘professionalism’. The paperpresents a case study of one ‘technical’ initiativein the probation context: namely, a structured risk/needs assessmentinstrument. The case study examined the implementation of thisinstrument in two area probation services, with a view to establishingits impact both on the exercise of professional judgement (‘indeterminacy’),and on perceptions of professionalism among users and theirmanagers. On the basis of the case study it is argued that,contrary to many recent commentaries, neither significant reductionsin indeterminacy nor an inevitable process of deprofessionalizationcan be automatically ‘read off’ from attempts tointroduce greater structure and/or standardization to socialwork and probation practice. The tentative conclusion of thispaper is that the professional future lies not in a wholesalerejection of technicality, but rather in achieving a positive,workable balance between technical and indeterminate aspectsof practice.     

From Paradigm to Practice in a Special Probation Project

Summary Between January 1980 and December 1982, a team of probationofficers in South Yorkshire attempted a new approach to probationpractice. The project arose initially out of the ideas put forwardin Bottoms and McWilliams (1979) ‘A Non-Treatment Paradigmfor Probation Practice’, but the team members developeda version of the paradigm which in many respects differed markedlyfrom the original. In this paper, their statutory work is describedwith particular reference to their social enquiry practice andto their attempted separation of the care and control aspectsof probation orders.     

The Multiple Realities of Sameness and Difference: Ideology and Practice

Gender distinctions as dichotomous categories are perpetuated and maintained by social mechanisms and are socially constructed. Part of this social construction is reproduced by many social scientists who adopt mainstream cultural categories of gender and, through theoretical or methodological biases, fail to question them, or who, by their own practices, reinforce them. This analysis is an overview of the epistemological and methodological practices that reinforce gender distinctions and neglect reporting of similarities. Rejecting several models used to explain cultural differences, an alternative mode of analysis—multiplicity and proteanism—is proposed as a more productive perspective in the analysis of gender.     

Social Work Practice in Gerontology in Israel

No abstract available for this article.