Probation Centenary

Service of Celebration and Thanksgiving

Address by John Scott

Saturday 30th June 2007

Prayer - includes an extract from a private devotional prayer, written by William Wilberforce:

Dear Lord, As we reflect upon your Word and the work of the probation service over the past century, 'may we indeed bear about us the likeness of our Heavenly Father, and be doing good in our generation to the will of God, until at length thou shalt receive us to thyself, and make us partakers of those pleasures, which are at thy right hand, for evermore'. Amen.

Introduction

Come back with me to a play ground in a Bedford school several years ago. A young Will Scott is listening to a boastful friend who says: "My dad's a teacher and he does my homework for nothing!" Another pal exclaims: "But my mum's a doctor and she makes me well for nothing!" To which Will replies: "So what? My dad's a probation officer and he makes me good for nothing!"

Are you branded a 'do-gooder'? Because of your job? Or your faith?

What reaction do you get when people hear you work for the probation service? I think there are two main responses - "I couldn't do that" and "what a waste of time".

I love the challenge in Wilberforce's daily prayer to 'be doing good in our generation to the will of God' and in this address I want:

• to challenge your vocation - your profession at work
• to challenge your call - your profession of faith

The Origins of Probation

It is a privilege to look back upon 100 years since the 1907 Probation of Offenders Act, the statutory beginning of the probation service. But the history goes back much further - abroad to North American philanthropists in Massachusetts and to Dutch reformers, to a Hertfordshire printer, called Frederick Rainer and to the London Police Court Missionaries.

The voluntary sector, as so often, was first to see and respond to need. Rainer wrote a letter in 1876 to the Church of England Temperance Society with a donation for five shillings (25p does not seem a lot!) - he was concerned about the 'lack of hope and help for those who come before the court'. The donation led to the appointment of the first missionary at the Southwark Police Court. By 1894 there were 70 men and women working for the London Police Court Mission. They saw the link between alcohol and crime and were 'muscular' in urging abstinence and in distributing tracts.

Others were more practical in approach. An article in the Guardian recently highlighted the Victorian contribution of Thomas Holmes, who had little time for such moral rescue work and instead, when asked if he gave criminals Christ, responded: "Sir, I cannot carry Christ in parcels and distribute him. I can only do as I think He would have done...I give them myself."

There were several steps which made the 1907 Act possible - for instance, the First Offenders Act of 1887 'gave the magistrates power - not to compel them - where a person is brought before the court for the first time, charged with an offence punishable by imprisonment only, to direct that he shall be conditionally released upon probation of good conduct.'

This earlier Bill was opposed by some MPs who said 'it was a dangerous principle to leave it to a bunch of amateurs' - a sentiment which led 20 years later to the payment of the new probation officers by the state.

So today we meet to honour the endeavour and commitment of the founders of the probation service. What relevance do they have for a 21st Century probation service? Or for you as a modern Christian? I suggest we can draw inspiration from those who pioneered work with offenders - not just from the heroines or heroes like Elizabeth Fry or John Howard or William Wilberforce - but from the ordinary and the earnest like the Court Missionaries. It is my aim to show that personal commitment is the basic building block of reform, hence the structure of my talk which will cover 'Reform of self, of others and of society' and deliberately in that order - making reference to the stories of reformers and to the letter to Philemon. And it is with Philemon that I want to start...

The Onesimus and Philemon story

Everyone loves a story of disaster and reform - I sometimes think that probation officers don't make enough of the wealth of stories in our caseloads - and from the letter we can piece together a classic human interest item:

• Onesimus, a slave, is a runaway from a Christian master, Philemon,
• As he escapes he probably steals from his master, a crime punishable by death
• he ends up in Rome and is converted
• he wins the trust of the imprisoned preacher Paul
• Paul writes a letter to plead the slave's case.

Why chose this letter for this special probation event? Like a great sonnet - a poem with an intense focus which opens up into huge significance and meaning - this gem of a letter could have been specially written for a probation audience:

• From a prisoner
• Crime and punishment
• A betrayal of trust
• Being held to account for breaking a contract
• A life turned around
• A mediator prepared to take risks
• The search for reconciliation.

The letter contains a beautiful literary device known as a 'chiasm', which means 'intercrossing' or 'cross-pieces of wood'. In verse 4, Paul says how he thanks God in his prayers 'because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.' The thought is structured like the Greek letter chi(x) - 'faith in Christ' is one arm of the letter x, 'love for others' is the second arm. They are inextricable. Both are necessary and they form a cross. (Cross the arms in illustration.) The message for Philemon is clear - if you are a Christian, you have to love all the saints, even an escaped slave, who let you down. It is an inextricable truth of the cross.

The letter is also a classically structured illustration of how to plead for an offender - it is organised to build rapport, to persuade the mind and to move the heart. I am not suggesting that this is a template for a Pre-Sentence Report, but Paul is both tactful and generous in his approach - he even resorts to humour, or at least a light hearted pun in verse 11: 'Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.' The name Onesimus means 'useful'.

The great spiritual truth opened up by Paul is captured in the phrase: 'I will pay it back' in verse 19. 'If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back...' You know Paul is deadly serious when he stops dictating and grabs the pen. He knew this was life and death for Onesimus. In probation we call this 'community payback'. Paul called it redemption. Being set free. Bought with a price.

Reform of Self

Reform of self begins if you know YOU were bought with a price. It completely changes your approach to other people, crime, forgiveness, the need to put things right IF you know and live the truth that Christ bought your freedom with a price. This letter is a practical rendering of 'redemption theology' - Paul is putting his faith into practice. I think the challenge to each of us in our personal and professional life is: how can you realistically help free people? The answer is by getting alongside them, putting yourself on the line, by being a bridge builder, by taking some risks, by persuasion, through advocacy. Seek this 'reform of self' at home, at work, at play.

The great reformers began with self, but did not stop there - they sought to make a difference for others.

Time for two more stories:

Elizabeth Fry

The Norwich banker's daughter became not just the UK's most important woman penal reformer, but Europe's chief campaigner for inmates' rights.

On her first visit to London's notorious Newgate prison in 1813, she discovered 300 women and their children, huddled together in two wards and two cells. Although some of the women had been found guilty of crimes, others were still waiting to be tried. The female prisoners slept on the filthy stone floors without nightclothes or bedding. The women had to cook, wash and sleep in the same cell. Afterwards Elizabeth Fry wrote that the "swearing, gaming, fighting, singing and dancing were too bad to be described."

She had married into the Quaker chocolate dynasty and used her influence to campaign for reform. In 1817 she founded an association to help women prisoners, calling for separate prisons for women and female warders. She famously said:

"Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal," this at a time when prisons were more overcrowded dungeons than redemptive institutions.

She died in 1845 having achieved all her goals and sparking off humanitarian reforms for women prisoners across Europe.

John Howard

One of the inspirations of being Chief Officer in Bedfordshire was to look down from my office window on the statue of John Bunyan. At the other end of the High Street stands the pensive figure of John Howard, who at the age of 47 was appointed High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, which meant he sat with the Judges for the visiting assize courts, and for the first time saw the wretched state of prisoners coming into the dock from the Bedford gaol.

He had walked past the prison a thousand times but decided to visit because he knew nothing of what went on behind the walls. He was so shocked by the conditions he found there that he decided to visit other gaols in England, where the situation was no better. Jailers were not salaried but lived off fees paid by prisoners for food, bedding and other facilities. This system meant that poorer prisoners lived in terrible deprivation. Many jailers demanded payment before prisoners were released, meaning that some stayed in jail as debtors even if they were innocent or had served their sentences. Only this week I visited the Nottingham Galleries of Justice, it is sobering to walk into cells with no light or heat.

His approach was to record conditions and document his findings - the power of evidence led to two 1774 parliamentary acts - one abolished jailers' fees, the other enforced improvements in the system leading to better prisoner health.

Howard was driven to examine prisons across the continent. At a time when travel was uncomfortable and frequently dangerous, he travelled nearly 80,000 kilometres, making seven major journeys between 1775 and 1790, the first two of which are described in his book 'The State of Prisons in England and Wales...and an Account of Some Foreign Prisons'.

Whilst examining Russian military hospitals, Howard contracted typhus in Kherson, Ukraine, and died there on 20 January 1790.

In 1866 the Howard League for Penal Reform was founded in his honour.

Reform of and for Others

Two very different people - Elizabeth Fry had 11 children, a happy marriage and founded the Guys school for nurses. John Howard was a lonely widower, whose only son was mentally ill and died in an asylum. Fascinatingly, as a young man Howard had been briefly captured by the French so had experienced imprisonment personally.

Both saw need face to face and were moved by compassion, as Jesus was moved by crowds and individual need throughout the gospels - the idea in the Greek was of 'gut-wrenching' compassion. But it did not stop with feeling shocked. They acted. Reform of their own attitudes and priorities led to seek reform of others and for others. They stopped passing by on the other side of the road by their local prison - literally in Howard's case! They acted to break the pattern of prison life, just as the London Police Court Missionaries acted to break the revolving door pattern of alcohol misuse, crime and prison.

People in history, inspired by their faith doing good in their generation - can we aspire to have the same impact? A resounding 'yes' from me! Be encouraged by their faith and energy not daunted. Probation staff can be there at the right time to help someone when they really need it - on an unpaid work placement, a victim visit, in a drugs programme or in a prison. It is a privilege to meet need and to be Christ's hands and feet in our generation. But it is a hard tight rope to walk - on one side the danger of naive gullibility, on the other world weary cynicism. One of my favourite quotes from John Wesley is that he wanted people around him 'with cool minds and warm hearts' - note: not hot heads or cold hearts! Cool mind and warm heart - the person specification for a probation officer.

Reform of Society

So is there a person spec for a social reformer? I doubt anyone here measures up to the demands of fighting a national cause - the dedication, leadership and sacrifice required - but all great reformers led a movement, they needed foot soldiers, a groundswell of individual effort and belief to change attitudes and then the law. The founders of the probation service were such 'ordinary' people.

The reformers I have focused on today all drew their inspiration from the Bible - Wilberforce particularly was instrumental in setting up the British and Foreign Bible Society. And guess who attended the inaugural meeting - Elizabeth Fry. As Kevin Belmonte, Director of the Wilberforce Project at Gordon College in America, wrote:

'Wilberforce believed the best way to create a consensus that the slave trade was an evil needing to be fought was to strengthen the Christian framework of the nation. His work with the Bible Society was absolutely essential to strengthening this moral consensus.'

What are the criminal justice 'causes' of our generation, which are screaming out for reform based on biblical truth? The long list could include:

• Overflowing prisons
• Victim vulnerability
• Asylum seekers and people trafficking
• Discrimination because of race or religion or gender
• Alcohol and drugs dependence and misuse
• Exploitation of women in the sex industry
• Shortage of facilities for mentally ill offenders
• Hate campaigns against sex offenders

If you work in probation, you work with all of these causes every day. The challenge is to bring 'redemption theology' into your workplace. Now I am not suggesting reviving the 19th century methods of our founders, but working professionally using modern methods to free offenders from anger, deprivation, addiction, boredom, greed, impetuosity...Probation interventions are a vital part of helping turn lives around and God alone knows where that may lead emotionally and spiritually!

Conclusion

I want to conclude by returning to the chiasm - 'faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints'. The Bible does not tell us the outcome of the Onesimus and Philemon drama, but we are left with the full force of Paul's intervention to mediate and to reform.

John wrote: 'Dear Children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.' 1 John 3:18. Another chiasm, an inextricable mark of the cross. 'Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.'

This is the exhortation that Wilberforce, Fry, Howard and the London Police Court Missionaries heard from scripture - it became their call and changed society, may it be your vocation in this generation.

Closing Prayer (Christian Conference of Asia, from 'Discovering Christ', IBRA 2002)

Give us, O Lord, Churches and Christians

Who will be more courageous than cautious;

Who will not only 'comfort the afflicted'

But 'afflict the comfortable';

Who will not only love the world but will also judge the world;

Who will not only pursue peace but will also demand justice;

Who will not remain silent when people are calling for a voice;

Who will not pass by on the other side

When wounded humanity is waiting to be healed;

Who will follow Christ even when the way points to a cross.

To this end we offer ourselves in the name of him who loved us and gave himself for us. Amen.

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John Scott is a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Justice, responsible for the implementation of offender management across the probation service. He is President of the European Probation Conference and a member of Christ Church, Bedford.