tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post5071854662178023865..comments2024-03-29T11:18:07.045+00:00Comments on On Probation Blog: Pick of the Week 50Jim Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00258147767051200157noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-88711054063835901522018-04-23T19:18:42.522+01:002018-04-23T19:18:42.522+01:00Just because it's a good read, outsourcing get...Just because it's a good read, outsourcing getting slammed, a Tory calling for constituents to vote Labour, and a safe Tory Council could be lost.<br />Nothing about probation though.<br /><br />https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/23/capita-carillion-outsourcing-local-elections-aditya-chakraborttyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-6680752062346245052018-04-22T21:12:24.464+01:002018-04-22T21:12:24.464+01:00So I left NPS a couple of years ago and now workin...So I left NPS a couple of years ago and now working for local authority and there is something I'm still not used to... so you go up a spine point (which already takes me half way up the band which means it only takes a couple of years to reach the top) and then ON TOP of that we get a pay rise. So badly treated in probation for so long re. pay that this just feels so unreal to me. Perhaps in probstion we just got used to it and learned not to make a fuss... seems so wrong now. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-25782702574680828602018-04-22T21:05:24.230+01:002018-04-22T21:05:24.230+01:00No more SSO's what will the robots recommend n...No more SSO's what will the robots recommend now ... straight to jail for everyone now in PSRs ....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-80361975513202890682018-04-22T19:11:12.794+01:002018-04-22T19:11:12.794+01:00Stop handing out suspended sentences courts told, ...Stop handing out suspended sentences courts told, and stop recommending them in PSRs probation told.<br />Feed the CRCs instead.<br /><br />https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/22/stop-handing-out-so-many-suspended-sentences-courts-toldAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-47450888363804547912018-04-22T16:23:25.621+01:002018-04-22T16:23:25.621+01:00Calls for Amber Rudd to resign over the handling o...Calls for Amber Rudd to resign over the handling of the Windrush Generation scandal have been made from several quarters today.<br />However, whilst Rudd may be willing to stand in for the PM on difficult TV debates, she will be far less willing to fall on her sword for a mess created by the PM whilst she was Home Secretary. <br />May is in a pickle and under significant pressure with many in her party getting just a little tired of all the problems that seems to come with her.<br />But with Windrush to remain a prominent headline in the media throughout the coming week, there's another significant problem bubbling under the surface for the PM, and it could see her being unseated as PM. <br />Where would she be if by the end of next week Liam Fox and Boris were about to resign, and she had to announce that the UK will be staying in the Customs Union after Brexit?<br /><br />http://uk.businessinsider.com/theresa-may-advisers-u-turn-customs-union-eu-brexit-2018-4<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-31224341376655173782018-04-22T12:16:26.221+01:002018-04-22T12:16:26.221+01:00Truth is, what you get from todays justice system ...Truth is, what you get from todays justice system depends mostly on what you can afford to pay.<br /><br />https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/21/in-britain-the-richer-you-are-the-better-your-chance-of-justice<br /><br />I see today David Gauke is making much of the MoJ recruiting and exceeding the 2500 prison officers they said they would have by the end of the year.<br />I guess the prison crisis has been resolved then!!!<br />He talks about finally being able to keep our prisons safe and as a consequence so too our streets. He talks about how all these new prisoner officers can finally start delivering the much needed rehabilitation (there's that word again) that prisoners need to turn away from a life of crime.<br />I can't share his enthusiasm.<br />Apart from all the prison officers being brand spanking new out of the box and many not going to hang about for too long once they see the reality, how can there be any realistic expectation of rehabilitation in someone's life when they're being released homeless, without the fundamental prerequisites needed to even claim benefits, and a barren landscape where support agencies used to be?<br />It's not a crisis in our prisons Mr Gauke, the crisis is with society, and its your government that's created it.<br />You've just took to much away, and pulled the ladder up on far to many. <br />This period of governance Mr Gauke will be remembered as one of the most shameful in modern history.<br /><br />'Getafix Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-89584143050430907412018-04-22T07:26:21.020+01:002018-04-22T07:26:21.020+01:00Public protection experts have criticised two psyc...Public protection experts have criticised two psychologists who backed the release of the serial sex attacker John Worboys and subsequently stated that his failure to acknowledge his crimes make him a low risk to women if freed.<br /><br />In a letter to the Psychologist magazine, they suggest that Worboys’ lack of empathy for his victims means he is less likely to offend again. This conflicts with the views of most experts, who believe that offenders must address their past behaviour if they are to be successfully rehabilitated.<br /><br />The two independent experts, known only as P12 and P1 in court papers, were instructed by Worboys’ defence team. They were among four psychologists whose opinions helped convince the parole board that he should be released, despite opposition from some prison and probation officials. Their controversial opinions are likely to prompt questions about what weight should be given to expert witnesses employed by defence lawyers seeking their clients’ release.<br /><br />In their letter, the psychologists claim that Worboys’ “denial of the offences for many years, his apparent failure to confess to all his crimes, suspicions about his level of remorse and victim empathy – are the very issues for which there is robust evidence regarding their lack of association to risk”.<br /><br />They quote a 2015 study of 7,000 convicted UK sex offenders which found that “those who took full responsibility for their offence sexually reoffended at a significantly higher rate than those who took partial or no responsibility for their offence. “We now know that these post-hoc offence rationalisations are driven by shame, a functional response to wrongdoing, often held by those individuals with stronger social bonds.”<br /><br />But the claim has been met with scepticism from other experts. “To suggest that sex offenders who are repeat abusers and in denial are not necessarily a high risk of causing further harm is highly controversial,” said Harry Fletcher, a probation expert. “Offenders in the prison or probation system who deny they did it or who claim that their victims consented are hard to work with as they do not address their offending behaviour.”<br /><br />“Denial is consistently used in forensic settings to determine the level of risk,” said Keri Nixon, a consultant forensic psychologist with 16 years’ experience of working in risk assessment. “The extent of the offences committed in this case, the chronicity of offending and the nature of denial all suggest he is a high-risk offender.”<br /><br />The decision taken by the board in January to release Worboys, more than eight years after he was jailed for 19 sex offences against 12 women in London, provoked a furore. Last month the board was forced to reconsider its decision following a judicial review brought by two of his victims that led to the resignation of its chairman, Nick Hardwick. He was told by David Gauke, the justice secretary, that his position was untenable.<br /><br />In prison, Worboys maintained his innocence until the earliest date when he was eligible for parole neared. In January 2015 a psychologist noted he continued to maintain his innocence and “there was no reduction in the risk” he posed to the public.<br /><br />But six months later, as a potential release date loomed, court documents note that Worboys had a sudden change of heart.<br /><br />A parole board spokesman said: “Psychologists who give evidence are not parole board employees and will either be instructed by Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service or the offender.”<br /><br />A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “These reports are just one of many pieces of evidence parole board panels, often including members who are themselves experienced and registered psychologists, consider before coming to a decision.”Jim Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00258147767051200157noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8578343158425987632.post-1799478559637227782018-04-22T07:12:33.148+01:002018-04-22T07:12:33.148+01:00An interesting riposte by two of the psychologists...An interesting riposte by two of the psychologists who were berated for their low-risk assessment of Worboys – denial, lack of empathy and partial responsibility are not associated with future risk. <br /><br />https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/apr/21/john-warboys-psychologists-under-fire-over-low-risk-claim<br /><br />From the letter:<br /><br />'The fascinating finding of Harkins et al. (2015) comes to mind, in which 7000 convicted UK sex offenders were followed up and it was found that those who took full responsibility for their offence sexually reoffended at a significantly higher rate than those who took partial or no responsibility for their offence'. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com