Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T15:05:05.083Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

PROBATION OFFICERS, SOCIAL ENQUIRY REPORTS, AND IMPORTUNING IN THE 1960s*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2013

JOHN LUNAN
JOHN LUNAN*
Affiliation:
St Hilda's College, Oxford
*
St. Hilda's College, Cowley Place, Oxford, OX4 1DY[email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article explores how probation officers encouraged magistrates to hand down supervision orders for men charged with importuning via Social Enquiry Reports in the 1960s, a period characterized by a penal-welfare approach to crime and delinquent behaviour. Using nine reports on men charged with importuning, the article will show how ideals of citizenship were crucial to securing supervision. The article will consider to what extent definitions of citizenship varied depending on the offender's social class. In particular, the article will explore how ideals of citizenship were invoked to encourage supervision in circumstances where the offender already had previous convictions for importuning as well as cases where there were none. Finally, the article will consider to what extent the liberalization of the sexual offences laws in 1967 affected the way probation officers defined citizenship for homosexuals and altered the way supervision was encouraged in reports for men charged with importuning. Rounding up the above findings, the conclusion will also look at how successful probation officers were in securing supervision orders by portraying importuners as good citizens and will assess to what extent probation can be conflated with leniency and permissiveness.

Type
Articles
Information
The Historical Journal , Volume 56 , Issue 3 , September 2013 , pp. 781 - 800
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

My thanks to John Davis, Matt Houlbrook, and Tiffany Gast as well as the two anonymous readers for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this article. Thanks also to members of the London Probation Retired Staff Association for a series of excellent interviews. The names of all offenders referred to in this article are randomly allocated pseudonyms.

References

1 Garland, David, The culture of control: crime and social order in contemporary society (Oxford, 2001)Google Scholar.

2 Ibid., p. 149.

3 Ibid., p. 177.

4 Office, Home, The Probation Service in England and Wales (London, 1964), p. 4Google Scholar.

5 Ibid., p. 4.

6 Report on the work of the Probation and After-Care Department 1966–1968 (London, 1972), p. 79.

7 Report on the work of the Probation and After-Care Department 1969–1971 (London, 1972), p. 66.

8 Page, Martin, Crimefighters of London: a history of the origins and development of the Probation and Aftercare Service (London, 1972), p. 277Google Scholar.

9 Garland, The culture of control, p. 149.

10 Armstrong, David, The political anatomy of the body (Cambridge, 1983)Google Scholar; Rose, Nikolas, The psychological complex: psychology, politics and society in England, 1869–1939 (London, 1985)Google Scholar; Rose, Nikolas, Governing the soul: the shaping of the private self (London, 1999)Google Scholar.

11 Thomson, Mathew, Psychological subjects: identity, culture, and health in twentieth-century Britain (Oxford, 2005), p. 8Google Scholar.

12 Ibid., p. 9.

13 Garland, The culture of control, p. 149.

14 Vanstone, Maurice, Supervising offenders in the community: a history of probation theory and practice (Aldershot, 2004), p. 156Google Scholar.

15 Court Register, Guildhall Justice Room (GJR), London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) CLA/005/02/137, CLA/005/02/138.

16 Interview with John and Irene Walters, recorded by John Lunan (JL), London, 18 July 2012.

17 Interview with Gerry Matthews, recorded by JL, London, 17 Feb. 2012.

18 Interview with Tony Leach, recorded by JL, London, 9 Feb. 2012.

19 Interview with Will Watson, recorded by JL, London, 7 Mar. 2012.

20 Houlbrook, Matt, Queer London: perils and pleasures in the sexual metropolis, 1918–1957 (London, 2006), p. 263Google Scholar.

21 Ibid., p. 253.

22 Wills, Abigail, ‘Delinquency, masculinity and citizenship in England 1950–1970’, Past and Present, 187 (2005), pp. 157–85CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

23 For examples about the history of sexuality, see Berrube, Alan, Coming out under fire: the history of gay men and women in World War Two (New York, NY, 1990)Google Scholar; Cocks, Harry, Nameless offences: homosexual desire in the nineteenth century (London, 2003)Google Scholar; David, Hugh, On Queer Street: a social history of British homosexuality, 1895–1995 (London, 1997)Google Scholar; Weeks, Jeffrey, Coming out: homosexual politics in Britain from the nineteenth century to the present (London, 1977)Google Scholar; Robb, George and Erber, Nancy, eds., Disorder in the court: trials and sexual conflict at the turn of the century (New York, NY, 1999)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hyde, H. Montgomery, The other love: an historical and contemporary survey of homosexuality in Britain (London, 1970)Google Scholar; Houlbrook, Matt, ‘The man with the powder puff in interwar London’, Historical Journal, 50 (2007), pp. 145–71CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Houlbrook, Matt and Waters, Chris, ‘The heart in exile: detachment and desire in 1950s London’, History Workshop Journal, 62 (2006), pp. 142–65CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Houlbrook, Matt, ‘Soldier heroes and rent boys: homosex, masculinities and Britishness in the Brigade of Guards: c. 1900–1960’, Journal of British Studies, 42 (2003), pp. 351–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Houlbrook, Matt, ‘The private world of public urinals: London, 1918–1957’, London Journal, 25 (2000), pp. 52–70CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For examples about the history of crime and punishment, see Garland, The culture of control, p. 1; Carrabine, E., Cox, P., Lee, M., and South, N., eds., Crime in Modern Britain (Oxford, 2002)Google Scholar; Gatrell, V. A. C., ‘Crime, authority and the policeman-state’, in Thompson, F. M. L., ed., Cambridge social history of Britain (Cambridge, 1995)Google Scholar; D'Cruze, S., ‘Crime’, in Zweiniger-Bargielowska, I., ed., Women in twentieth-century Britain (Harlow, 2001)Google Scholar; Godfrey, B. and Lawrence, P., Crime and justice, 1750–1950 (Cullompton, 2002)Google Scholar; Halsey, A. H. and Webb, J., eds., Twentieth-century British social trends (Basingstoke, 2000)Google Scholar; Morris, T., Crime and criminal justice since 1945 (Oxford, 1989)Google Scholar; William, C., Godfrey, B. and Lawrence, P., eds., History and crime (London, 2008)Google Scholar. For examples about the history of masculinity and citizenship, see Wills, ‘Delinquency, masculinity and citizenship in England, 1950–1970’, pp. 157–85; Collins, Marcus, ‘Pride and prejudice: West Indian men in mid-twentieth-century Britain’, Journal of British Studies, 40 (2001), pp. 391–418CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Canning, Kathleen and Rose, Sonya, ‘Introduction: gender, citizenship and subjectivity: some historical and theoretical considerations’, Gender and History, 13 (2001), pp. 427–43CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hall, Lesley A., Hidden anxieties: male sexuality, 1900–1950 (Cambridge, 1991)Google Scholar; Dudink, Stefan, Hagemann, Karen and Tosh, James, eds., Masculinities in politics and war: gendering modern history (Manchester, 2004)Google Scholar; Rose, Sonya O., Which people's war? National identity and citizenship in wartime Britain, 1939–1945 (Oxford, 2003)Google Scholar; Dawson, Graham, Soldier heroes: British adventure, empire and the imagining of masculinities (London, 1994)Google Scholar.

24 Houlbrook, ‘Soldier heroes and rent boys’, p. 386; Waters, Chris, ‘“Dark strangers” in our midst: discourses of race and nation in Britain, 1947–1963’, Journal of British Studies, 36 (1997), pp. 207–38CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Waters, Chris, ‘Disorders of the mind, disorders of the body social: Peter Wildeblood and the making of the modern homosexual’, in Conekin, Becky, Mort, Frank, and Waters, Chris, eds., Moments of modernity: reconstructing Britain, 1945–1964 (London, 1994), p. 134Google Scholar.

25 Brooke, Stephen, ‘Identities in twentieth-century Britain’, Journal of British Studies, 40 (2001), p. 155Google Scholar.

26 Canning and Rose, ‘Introduction: gender, citizenship and subjectivity: some historical and theoretical considerations’, p. 431.

27 Wills, ‘Delinquency, masculinity and citizenship in England, 1950–1970’, p. 174.

28 Ibid., p. 159; Collins, ‘Pride and prejudice: West Indian men in mid-twentieth-century Britain’, p. 417.

29 Evidence Book, Mansion House Justice Room (MHJR), 19 Oct. 1962–29 Nov. 1962, LMA CLA/004/07/252, p. 49.

30 Ibid., p. 49.

31 Ibid., p. 49.

32 Evidence Book, GJR, 31 Aug. 1964–5 Oct. 1964, LMA CLA/005/06/479, p. 153.

33 Ibid., p. 153.

34 Wills, ‘Delinquency, masculinity and citizenship in England, 1950–1970’, p. 184.

35 Evidence Book, MHJR, 19 Oct. 1962–29 Nov. 1962, LMA CLA/004/07/252, p. 49.

36 Ibid., p. 49.

37 Evidence Book, GJR, 28 Nov. 1963–28 Jan. 1964, LMA CLA/005/06/473, p. 174.

38 Ibid., p. 174.

39 Evidence Book, GJR, 31 Aug. 1964–5 Oct. 1964, LMA CLA/005/06/479, p. 153.

40 Ibid., p. 153.

41 Ibid., p. 153.

42 Beach, Abigail, ‘Forging a “nation of participants”: political and economic planning in Labour's Britain’, in Weight, Richard and Beach, Abigail, eds., The right to belong, citizenship and national identity in Britain, 1930–1960 (London, 1998), p. 89Google Scholar.

43 Evidence Book, GJR, 31 Aug. 1964–5 Oct. 1964, LMA CLA/005/06/479, p. 153.

44 Ibid., p. 153.

45 Wills, ‘Delinquency, masculinity and citizenship in England, 1950–1970’, p. 184.

46 Evidence Book, MHJR, 19 Oct. 1962–29 Nov. 1962, LMA CLA/004/07/252, p. 49.

47 Evidence Book, MHJR, 21 Feb. 1961–3 Apr. 1961, LMA CLA/004/07/235, p. 112.

48 Evidence Book, GJR, 28 Nov. 1963–28 Jan. 1964, LMA CLA/005/06/473, p. 174.

49 Evidence Book, MHJR, 19 Oct. 1962–29 Nov. 1962, LMA CLA/004/07/252, p. 49.

50 Bowlby, John, Forty-four juvenile thieves: their characters and home life (London, 1946)Google Scholar; Bowlby, John, Maternal care and mental health: a report prepared on behalf of the World Health Organisation as a contribution to the United Nations programme for the welfare of homeless children (Geneva, 1952)Google Scholar.

51 Evidence Book, MHJR, 21 Feb. 1961–3 Apr. 1961, LMA CLA/004/07/235, p. 112.

52 Ibid., p. 112.

53 Ibid., p. 112.

54 Ibid., p. 112.

55 Evidence Book, MHJR, 19 Oct. 1962–29 Nov. 1962, LMA CLA/004/07/252, p. 49.

56 Evidence Book, GJR, 28 Nov. 1963–28 Jan. 1964, LMA CLA/005/06/473, p. 174.

57 Evidence Book, GJR, 31 Aug. 1964–5 Oct. 1964, LMA CLA/005/06/479, p. 153.

58 Wills, ‘Delinquency, masculinity and citizenship in England, 1950–1970’, p. 172.

59 Houlbrook, ‘Soldier heroes and rent boys’, p. 376.

60 Evidence Book, GJR, 3 Nov. 1967–20 Dec. 1967, LMA CLA/005/06/503, p. 82.

61 Ibid., p. 82.

62 Ibid., p. 82.

63 Ibid., p. 82.

64 Ibid., p. 82.

65 Ibid., p. 82.

66 Ibid., p. 82.

67 Evidence Book, MHJR, 15 July 1963–10 Oct. 1963, LMA CLA/004/07/258, p. 127.

68 Ibid., p. 127.

69 Ibid., p. 127.

70 Ibid., p. 127.

71 Ibid., p. 127.

72 Ibid., p. 127.

73 Ibid., p. 127.

74 Houlbrook, ‘Soldier heroes and rent boys’, p. 377.

75 Evidence Book, MHJR, 18 July 1962–18 Oct. 1962, LMA CLA/004/07/251, p. 8.

76 Ibid., p. 8.

77 Evidence Book, MHJR, 15 July 1963–10 Oct. 1963, LMA CLA/004/07/258, p. 127.

78 Ibid., p. 127.

79 Houlbrook, Queer London, p. 263.

80 Evidence Book, GJR, 27 Dec. 1969–3 Feb. 1970, LMA CLA/005/06/519, p. 174.

81 Ibid., p. 174.

82 Ibid., p. 174.

83 Evidence Book, GJR, 25 Aug. 1969–8 Oct. 1969, LMA CLA/005/06/516, p. 119.

84 Ibid., p. 119.

85 Evidence Book, GJR, 27 Dec. 1969–3 Feb. 1970, LMA CLA/005/06/519, p. 174.

86 Evidence Book, GJR, 25 Aug. 1969–8 Oct. 1969, LMA CLA/005/06/516, p. 119.

87 Ibid., p. 119.

88 Evidence Book, GJR, 27 Dec. 1969–3 Feb. 1970, LMA CLA/005/06/519, p. 174.

89 Ibid., p. 174.

90 Houlbrook, ‘Soldier heroes and rent boys’, p. 381.

91 Interview with Jim Cannings, recorded by JL, Boston Spa, 11 July 2012.

92 Interview with Tony Leach, recorded by JL, London, 9 Feb. 2012.

93 Interview with Tony Leach, recorded by JL, London, 9 Feb. 2012.

94 Crolley, Terry and Paley, John, ‘Sexual problems and the Probation Service’, Probation Journal, 29 (1982), pp. 133–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

95 Interview with Tony Leach, recorded by JL, London, 9 Feb. 2012.

96 Collins, Marcus, ed., The permissive society and its enemies: sixties British culture (London, 2007)Google Scholar.

97 Wills, ‘Delinquency, masculinity and citizenship in England, 1950–1970’, p. 185.