A Few Observations

On the very day the coalition government is due to announce swingeing cuts in public expenditure that will affect life here in Britain for years to come, I find myself reflecting on that seminal tv series Boys From the Blackstuff recently repeated on BBC4. I well remember the effect this series had on me when first shown in the early 1980's and I was at university hoping to become a probation officer. I find many of the issues covered are just as relevant today and continue to resonate with my own probation practice. In many ways, this amazing series has served as a metaphor for much of what I've witnessed through work and in my opinion is still worthwhile viewing for any aspiring PO's. I note it's due out on DVD shortly and will certainly be on my Christmas list. 

I have to say I'm appalled by the news that the US charity Project Prevention has signed up it's first UK drug addict who has agreed to a vasectomy in return for £200. The ethos is that drug addicts cannot be adequate parents, which is a view that I wouldn't necessarily disagree with in many cases. However, the whole notion of encouraging sterilisation for people deemed as being unfit raises in me some deeply unpleasant historical parallels and an avenue that I really don't think we should be heading down. If nothing else, can a person really give informed consent at a time of psychological and possible physical addiction? I certainly doubt it.

It's good to see that NAPO have taken steps to redesign and simplify their Forum pages and hopefully some lively discussion might be forthcoming soon. In the meantime I love this quote from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight branch pages posted by George Clarke:-

"There will be those who believe that probation found it true way during the past decade and there will be those who believe it lost its way - some saw an oasys... others realised a mirage... "

A couple of stories recently concerning high profile Bloggers serve to highlight that this can be a risky business. I note that former blogger Katharine Birbalsingh who outed herself and accepted an invitation to speak at the recent Tory Party conference has parted company with her school. I hope she is not unduly surprised by this, because I'm certainly not. Although I never read her blog, having picked up the gist and heard her speak on the BBC radio 4 Today programme yesterday, I can see why her position would be untenable. I have a suspicion I wouldn't agree with all of her thoughts on education, particularly the desirability of more exclusions. We already have 10,000 a year and I think it would be preferable to put effort into engaging with those kids and their parents and offer support instead.

Finally, I see that some people feel that Inspector Gadjet might have accidentally revealed his location in a recent post. I have to say I find that degree of sloppiness hard to believe in such an experienced and accomplished blogger and wonder if it might not just be a clever smokescreen? Whatever, I hope he carries on raising the issues he does for a lot longer, even though I wish he were a bit more open to some serious discussion and possibly some acknowledgement that there just might be some other answers to the problems that he so graphically illustrates.