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30 Prob. J. 1 (1983)

handle is hein.journals/probj30 and id is 1 raw text is: COMMENT Over the hilt Prof Nigel Walker's incisive contribu- tion to the, 1982 NAPO Conference (reproduced& in this issue) caused a frisson - of- discomfort among some listeners. He sought to alert us to possible shoals ahead for the Probation Service, particularly a backlash of scep- ticism about ourvalue-and a correspond- ing momentum of 'just deserts' penology. Prof Walker's concern is whether we will be able to hang on to business unless we can demonstrate effectiveness with our customers, while the percentage- of -responsive clients shrinks. For others, the way forward is obvious - to offer credible alternatives to custody, based on the principles of community containment and regulation, which also hope to engage a reluctant clientele in pro- grammes which promise personal aware- ness and change: Those of us who are unconvinced are often accused of unwar- Probation Journal Published by the National Association of Probation Offiders Hon Editor: Nigel Stone Etditorial Advisory Board: Laurence V. Coates, Jenny Kirkpatrick (ex officio), Tim Powell, Sue Priestley, David Reaich, Peter Simpson, Andy Stelman Price E1 (free to members) ranted scruples, feeble-heartedness, an idiosyncratic refusal to see the writing on the wall, and I recall being castigated at a conference by Nicholas Stacey, Director of Social Services for Kent, for opposing self-evidently worthwhile diver- sion schemes at Medway. Certainly some Social Services Departments. have been enthusiastic to embrace remarkable extensions of supervision and intermedi- ate treatment to include junior com- munity service, curfews, etc, well ahead of the Criminal Justice Act, especially when they are attempting their own in- house decarceration moves. It is sug- gested that those who oppose such proposals are in fact setting up a straw man to attack, failing to appreciate and trust the integrity and positive intent of those designing these measures. But in terms of Prof Walker's warn- ing that the Probation Service bubble may well be pricked, there is certainly a real risk that in creating schemes which promise the containment of individuals in the community and the reduction of the prison population, we will be even more likely to fail in delivering the goods. Antony Vass, in a recent critique of diversion,' old and new, has specul- ated that increased zeal in policing com- munity containment programmes, con- trary to the probation tradition of flex- ibility and discretion, could well push defaulting offenders into prison, and would transform how the Service is per- 1

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