Relations with other agencies: Courts, Prisons and Police

Rob Mawby, Leicester UniversityandAnne Worrall, Keele University

Session 2: Doing probation work

Towards closer working

‘Nobody had partners in the 1980s’ (CO6)

1991 Morgan Report Crime and Disorder Act 1998 MAPPA (2000) PPO schemes and IOM Public protection agenda

Levels of interaction

Communication

Cooperation

Coordination

Federation

Merger

S. Davidson (1976)

Probation and the Courts

Deeply embedded historical relationship, ‘servant of the courts’, fundamentally unchanged

‘Cooperation’ with some ‘Coordination’ Ambivalence …

‘There were two different sorts of attitudes…magistrates being extremely supportive of the service...but also extremely demanding at the same time.’ (FPW2)

Probation and the Courts

Declining respect …. ‘Used to be an authoritative person and had a very

key role in the court…we sort of moved down to…almost the bottom of the pecking order.’ (CO14)

Earning respect … ‘You have to earn your position in the court, by

becoming somebody known for doing a particular job, otherwise the magistrates and clerks just ride roughshod and even the ushers treat you with contempt until you get established.’ (FPW8)

Probation and the Courts

Excitement … ‘I really enjoy courts because it’s theatre and you’re

playing a part in this massive drama, although it’s real, it’s fast and exciting…the magistrate wants that oral report done in 20 minutes and you’ve only just finished interviewing the offender and you’ve gotta think on your feet and you’ve gotta stand up in court and deliver that assessment. I like that.’ (TPO4)

Mutual respect … ‘I think that magistrates’ attitudes to probation officers

have changed and I think it’s because they have a better understanding of what we do.’ (PW21)

Probation and Prisons

1960s–1990s: ‘Cooperation’ to ‘Coordination’

Prison Welfare to Shared Working Ideological and cultural issues Testing work context for PWs:

‘My abiding memory is two uniformed officers grabbing me by the lapels, hanging me up against the wall, and I don’t actually remember their exact words now but they were very threatening about do-gooding bastards.’ (CO1)

Probation and Prisons

1960s–1990s: ‘Cooperation’ to ‘Coordination’

Sexism: ‘When I was doing the prison placement, one of the

staff there would always, not in an aggressive or hostile way, but he would come in, in a sort of friendly way and say “oh morning, give us a twirl then, stand up and give us a twirl”. And I didn't, but how you had to handle things was difficult at the time. You had to be quite robust … and you had to find a way through all that, that kept your working relationships.’ (CO3)

Probation and Prisons

1960s–1990s: ‘Cooperation’ to ‘Coordination’ Fulfilling work:

‘I got the job in the prison for six years, which was brilliant. It was a good move; it was worth waiting for. It was a wonderful time to be there. [My predecessor] had set up this really good system of working. Every [prisoner] on admission was seen at a board the next day with a senior [prison] officer or an officer and either me or one of my staff. …And then, you would pick up on what the problems were and then between us, we would act on it.’ (FPW5)

Probation and Prisons

Post 1998: ‘Federation’ to ‘Merger’ Joining Forces to The Carter Report Impact of NOMS:

‘The prison service is a service that is not institutionally and constitutionally capable of understanding that there’s any other way of operating other than the way the prison service operates…and NOMS is the prison service, it’s got no probation thinking in it…it’s deeply frustrating.’ (CO2)

Probation and Prisons

Post 1998: ‘Federation’ to ‘Merger’ ‘[NOMS] was such a catastrophe….we’re just poles

apart…and all the fears are realised inasmuch as NOMS is run by prison staff, it’s not run by probation staff…we’ve got people who know nothing about our job …making huge decisions about us as a service.’ (PW19)

‘The prison service are militaryfied and we’re not – we’re reflective thinkers…Just the way they carry themselves, the way they speak…like prison talk is very curt and quick, da, di, da, di, you know, want it done, this is what’s gonna happen.’ (PW23)

Probation and Police

1960s-1990s: ‘Communication’ & limited ‘Cooperation’ ‘When I started, we let 'em out and the police locked

'em up, pretty much.’ (CO11)

‘It tended to be a fairly hostile relationship. […] I remember going down and asking in a custody area for a piece of information. And the police officer put his feet on the table, very pointedly, and said “you see that folder over there?” and pointed into the corner. And I said yeah. And he said “go and get it”.’ (CO3)

Probation and Police

Post 1998: ‘Coordination’ and ‘Federation’ ‘I can remember my boss saying to me, if I catch

you talking to a police officer again, you could get sacked, whereas now, if I don't talk to the police, I could get sacked.’ (PW24)

‘I think our natural allies actually are the police not the prison service. You know, I think the mistake was, if we had to go in with somebody, was to go in with the prison service, not the police; I'd much rather be in with the police.’ (CO13)

Probation and Police

Post 1998: ‘Coordination’ and ‘Federation’ Polibation and Polification?

‘We've transformed our relationships with the police now in ways that were unimaginable when I came into the job. [...] the reason why we work well with the police is because we're different to them, and from them.’ (CO2)

Mission distortion? [Of PPO officers] ‘What always makes me laugh is,

I became the bad cop and they became the good cop […] certainly in the offenders’ eyes, I seemed to be the baddie’. (PW6)

Probation’s relations

Closer working is demanded in turbulent times

Probation-Prison ‘Merger’ Probation-Police ‘Federation’ Probation-Courts ‘Cooperation’ Cultural variables add to complexity