Social Work Ideologies in the Probation Service

SUMMARY The research described in this paper was an attempt to explore some aspects of social work ideology in the probation service. We were particularly interested to identify the extent to which probation officers subscribed to certain ‘treatment model’ assumptions about criminal behaviour. The p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The British journal of social work 1977-01, Vol.7 (2), p.131-154
Main Author: HARDIKER, PAULINE
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Criminal histories
Criminal justice
Criminal probation
Criminals
Indexing in process
Justice
Juvenile delinquency
Probation officers
Recommendations
Social Work
Young offenders
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Summary:SUMMARY The research described in this paper was an attempt to explore some aspects of social work ideology in the probation service. We were particularly interested to identify the extent to which probation officers subscribed to certain ‘treatment model’ assumptions about criminal behaviour. The project was designed as a small-scale study in depth of probation officers' social inquiry practices. The data-collection methods used for this were a combination of depth interviews with probation officers who also completed self-administered questionnaires. We found that some probation officers appeared to subscribe to ‘treatment model‘ ideals more than others, but that all probation officers were treatment orientated towards some of their cases and not to others. Their treatment preferences seems to relate to the seriousness of the offender's criminal history and personal problems and the recommendation that was being made. Some of the implications of these findings for social work practice were discussed.
ISSN:0045-3102
1468-263X
DOI:10.1093/oxfordjournals.bjsw.a056814