Co-operation Between the Police and Social Services in Relation to Juveniles

• NCJ Number: 73644
• Journal: Bramshill Journal Volume: 1 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1980) Pages: 17-23
• Author(s): P Lord
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

Areas of conflict which hinder cooperation between British police and the social services in relation to juveniles are identified, and suggestions for improvements are presented.

Abstract

Although consultation regarding juvenile offenders is not yet statutorily required, most police forces have a system of regular consultation with the social services, even if this only takes the form of informing them that a child has come to notice for an offense and seeking comment. However, in spite of recent recommendations that the police become more involved in offender rehabilitation, a number of conflicts between the police and the social services appear to block the implementation of these recommendations at the working level. Accountability is one such point of conflict in that police officers are answerable to the law, and officers who transgress are subject to complaints and investigations. Thus, social workers often advise their clients on how to complain against the police. Additionally, the two services appear to have differing views on how to deal with offenders. Social workers often believe the police favor sending children to court, and police officers often suspect that social workers aim to keep them out of court. Also, police officers often view the social service's supervision and treatment of juvenile offenders as inadequate and believe that disciplining offenders could be more effective in some cases. Further, many police officers do not view social work as their responsibility and view social workers as inexperienced and equipped with only theoretical knowledge. Conversely, social workers see police officers as inadequately trained for social work. These points of Conflict might be partially resolved if police officers were more involved in the training of social workers, and social workers contributed to the training of police officers. Furthermore, the two groups must attempt to communicate more often in their local jurisdictions. Forty-six references are included.