Coping is More Difficult

Following on from my recent piece about 'burnout', a couple of comments from newish colleagues has spurred me on to think about coping and why I think it's much more difficult nowadays.

Having proudly gained my degree and Certificate of Qualification in Social Work, I was absolutely delighted to get a sessional post as a PO quite quickly. Initially I was to cover for a colleagues absence on a temporary secondment to a maximum secure prison. I guess it should have felt more daunting at the time to be given an office, full caseload and responsibility from day one, but I just thought this was how it was done. The team of five colleagues were very supportive and I just got stuck in. I clearly made an impression because six months later when the permanent post was advertised, I sailed through the interview and was duly appointed to the substantive post as a Main Grade officer, complete with nameplate, Jarvis and a pleasant personal note from the Chief.

Appointment signalled the start of my 'confirmation' year. Effectively each newly qualified officer was on probation and had to be confirmed in post. But in those days there was an area-wide first year officers support group. We met monthly and were able to discuss in confidence with an experienced officer issues that were of concern. It was always good to know others were experiencing and feeling the same as you and as a group we could bring those concerns to the attention of management. It served myself and my other new colleagues well, but sadly it seems management became suspicious of it and some years later it was quietly abandoned. I suspect it was about the time that the paternalistic Personnel Department was transformed into a rather more malign Human Resources Department. 

I have said before that I feel the role of a probation officer back in 1985 was very much a vocation rather than a career. This was certainly how I perceived it and for that reason never harboured thoughts of promotion that would take me away from client contact, the very essence of the job. I realised the work would be stressful, but there were numerous ways in which you were supported and could gain strength. It seems hard to comprehend now but in those days we had authority, discretion and exercised judgement pretty much unhindered either by the Senior or the system. Team meetings made decisions based on discussion and democratic process, they were not opportunities for the boss to tell you what you would be doing! Of course the strength of the team, including the Senior, was one of the key support mechanisms in caring for each other and being able to avoid 'burnout.' 

Back then 'burnout'  was only likely to come about because of the work with clients. But the system formed part of the means of coping. There were all sorts of groups and opportunities for career development. I remember going to a Family Therapy Support Group, a Forensic Psychiatric Group and a Drug Interest Group to name just a few. Sadly the situation we have today is that the system is part of the problem and therefore affords little if any help in coping with the work. Managements command and control fetish through the computer has seen to that. In essence the clients are exactly the same. Their problems are not that different from when the Service started, but it seems to me that all the coping mechanisms officers had in the past in having sufficient capacity to undertake the work have been removed one by one. 

I'm afraid this is not going to be a post that ends happily. The really sad conclusion I've arrived at from bitter experience is that a PO can only last about five years in a field team doing the core role as a generic officer. For their own health and sanity I think they must do what so many of my former colleagues have done and move on to one of those less stressful specialist posts either in prison, a drug team or programmes even. Management don't see this as a problem of course. They applaud such moves as career development, but in reality that disguises the fact that front-line probation work is fast becoming an impossible job. Managers delude themselves into thinking that hundreds of applicants for a prison post means people are really keen on working in a prison. In fact it serves as a graphic indication of just how bad things are in field offices, but they won't have it of course.