NCJ Number
137891
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1992) Pages: 105-119
Date Published
1992
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This paper is based on a 2-year research project that considered the patterns of interagency cooperation among the police, social services, and probation services within the British criminal justice system and identified areas of policy tension and potential conflict among these agencies.
Abstract
The thesis is that the fundamental set of structural conflicts among these agencies results from differing professional and organizational priorities. This structural conflict can be reduced or exacerbated by the institutionalized power relations between State agencies at the local level. Specifically, the research focuses on the involvement of the probation service in crime prevention efforts, indicating that probation officers find it difficult to make practical sense of the idea of a community orientation because of their traditional client focus and concern with the social dimensions of crime. Recent developments in criminology, which stress the importance of gender in crime prediction, may provide more opportunities for the probation service to become involved. Issues of racism and sexism are central to the service's work if crime prevention is to be at all successful. 2 notes and 25 references (Author abstract modified)