NCJ Number
224337
Journal
Criminology & Criminal Justice Volume: 8 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2008 Pages: 317-333
Date Published
August 2008
Length
17 pages
Annotation
A review of the unpublished manuscript of an autobiographical novel by Julia Steel, which recounts a year in the life of a woman probation officer working in London in 1945, is used to reflect on the current role of women probation officers in the Probation Service in England and Wales.
Abstract
The Second World War provided women probation officers the opportunity to be role models and provide support for women and girls whose struggles in coping with the social upheavals of the war brought them in contact with the criminal justice system; however, another perspective on the role of women probation officers in this period has been offered by Donzelot (1979) and, more recently, by Mahood (1995). They analyze Steel’s novel from the perspective of state regulation and the policing of families under the probation system. Mahood notes that in Steel’s novel, the home/family became an institution where the probation officer practiced his/her disciplinary craft on the entire family, becoming the state liaison for guiding families through difficult times. Donzelot notes the novel’s distinction between welfare responses to wealthier families and “working-class” families, notably the more controlling, disciplinary approach toward working-class families compared with the more sympathetic, friendly guidance offered to families with higher socioeconomic status. In contrasting the World War II female probation officers with the female probation officer of today, this article notes that since 1993, there have been more women than men in the Probation Service. In the climate of the toughening of probation supervision to increase public protection from offenders living and working in communities, women probation officers are required to confront, challenge, enforce, and exude authority in their interactions with probationers. Nevertheless, they continue to work with female offenders using a woman-centered philosophy that owes much to the legacy of earlier generations. 11 notes and 33 references