From The Archives

Every now and then I find myself trawling through the vast 'back catalogue' of comments this blog has accumulated and in the process come across a gem I don't recall, or worse, maybe never read in the halcyon days of unmoderated comments. A good example is this from 17th May 2020 at 22:52. I wonder if the author is still "being bluntly honest and annoying people and getting the job done."

--oo00oo--

There are still people in the service committed to social work values. Still people committed to supporting people to feel they have value and the ability to change. Still people hanging on in there after 20 plus years because one word at the right time can have an enormous impact on many lives. When I walked into a probation office for the first time oh such a long time ago I was told I'd made a terrible choice, Probation was dying and if I had any sense I'd turn around and leave. I didn't, still haven't, and have no intention of doing so. I still have the values that made my vocation the correct one (for me and hopefully many of my cases) and I share them freely with each and every colleague who cares to listen. And a large number of them do listen. 

As far as I am concerned, the heart of what I do is to really see the person in front of me. No policy or EDM will teach you about that, but quietly going about your day showing compassion and respect can make a world of difference. Am I going to change the world? Maybe....a little.. for a few people. Am I a little oasys of calm in a complex world? Absolutely not - I swear and complain and rage about the same things everyone else does. Have I thought about leaving? Absolutely, but they're not getting rid of me that easily - I'm going to stay and keep being bluntly honest and annoying people and getting the job done. And I'll keep doing it in a way that works for the people I'm working with - at least I still have hope that it does. That one to one relationship hasn't changed in 20 years and it's needed more than ever. And I'm going to share those blasted annoying social values all over the place, and some of them will stick in a few places. And when it gets too overwhelming I'll probably cry and feel de-skilled (a probation speciality) and look at the jobs pages for a couple of weeks, but tomorrow a new case will walk through the door who needs someone to listen to them and I'll do that instead.

I'll admit to being an idealistic young thing when I walked in to my first Probation office. And that was after I'd had to take my last employer to court for their illegal discriminatory behaviours against me. And I'll admit to be being significantly more jaded and cynical than your average person as a direct result of experiencing the metamorphosis of Probation into whatever thing it is. But I also know that these same complaints and moans were being said 20 years ago. There never was a golden age of Probation, it's always been a bit shit at lots of things and people have always tried to shove the next big idea down our necks that's not really that different from the last big idea but with extra paperwork.

And our core is still that time between you and another person who needs you to see them. That's it. Bugger the sodding paperwork though.

Anon