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characterised by some British probation officers as “screws on wheels” (Haxby 1978:163).
The maintenance of a productive personal relationship with a client may be seen as
preferable to placing such relationship in jeopardy by invoking breach procedures (Hough
1995). While this tension presents a dilemma for the Probation Service it also presents a
structural problem for the criminal justice system where courts make orders, the
parameters and requirements of which, at least in respect of community service orders are
clear andprecise.
On this topic, three responses from Judges in the surveyare illuminating.
Firstly, A5J1CC expressed doubt as to whether a Probation Officer would ever portray
his/her client in a negative light:
“you see its like this, the Probation Service is like everything else. It is the curate’s egg. You don’t
knowwho is going to get it. You don’t knowwhether it is going to be enforced in a realistic wayor
whether the work is going to be apparent. You just don’t know. From reading some of the
probation reports that you generally get, I mean one despairs of some of the members of the
Probation Service that they don’t just have their `hearts on their sleeves`, they have a wonderful
glowing attitude to life…. It’s all veryfine to take this young man in of a Thursdayand find that you
have to say something positive about him. There isn’t something positive to say about a lot of
people. You shouldn’t feel that it is your dutyto invent positive”. A5J1CC
This view was amplified by A8J1SC when he reflected upon the restricted information
which maybe available to a Probation Officer when preparinga suitabilityreport:
“…Defendants generally, if I could saythis, I think that theyspeak more franklyto their lawyer than
they do to other people who are more obviously pastoral in their involvement. When they are
speaking to a Social Worker or a Psychologist or someone like that, they are on the stage. They
want to impress that person and want to get a good report and they don’t speak frankly very often
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