Why Did They Do That? 2

Having made the point that continually seeking an answer to the question 'why did they do that?' lies at the very heart of what probation officers are trying to do in effecting change in a persons behaviour, it might be useful to explore some examples of what I mean. But first I think I need to highlight a contradiction. Although I have continually stressed that each persons situation and set of behaviours is unique, I now want to make the point that there are some common themes.

In interviewing a young woman who has committed numerous shoplifting offences, it would be completely understandable to discover a link between her offending and the need to fund an addiction to either heroin or possibly alcohol. However there is another question to be answered and that is, 'why is this person addicted?'  There is a medical theory that certain people have an addictive personality or even a genetic pre-disposition towards such behaviour. The person may have had a difficult and uncaring childhood, possibly resulting in a period of care. But also the feint or not so feint lines across the wrists can indicate something more serious, a degree of low self esteem, a desire to self harm or worse an unfulfilled wish to end their life. It is sad but often true that it is a powerfull indicator of sexual abuse early in life. For such a person, escape into the short-term oblivion of either alcohol or heroin provides some much needed relief, but also such recklessness serves to highlight their utter despair with life.

Some years ago I was allocated a PSR on a young man who had committed a whole string of motoring offences including TWOC, No Insurance, Dangerous Driving etc. It wasn't his first time in court, in fact he had accumulated quite a record of similar offending in a relatively short period of time and was rapidly approaching the custody threshold in relation to his behaviour. Although many other young men were committing similar offences at that time, this young man did not display the usual cockyness and in contrast presented with a particularly flat mood. He was clearly quite depressed and in fact he admitted to regularly contemplating suicide. Subsequently we had several long chats and he eventually told me that he had been sexually abused as a child and wanted to talk about it for the first time. Eventually I was able to secure a psychology report for court that explained his offences were basically part of 'running away' from the past and the reckless speed was part of a death wish.  

It will be appreciated that these are often extremely painfull issues for clients to discuss and the whole subject has to be approached with the utmost care. Invariably if the person is willing to talk about it, possibly for the first time, specialist counselling will be required. Sadly that is often easier said than done and many times during my career I have been utterly frustrated in having achieved a diagnosis, appropriate treatment is not forthcoming for a variety of reasons. Of course this is vital, not just in being able to effect change in peoples offending behaviour, but also in respect of their well-being. In relation to sentencing, a formulaic programmes or pure punishment approach would not be effective for such people. I think examples like this graphically illustrate why 'risk' should not be the only deciding factor in the allocation of cases and why social work theory and practice remain appropriate skills for a probation officer.