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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]
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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 

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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