Dealing with Violence: A Hostel Perspective

Abstract

Probation hostels normally have five members of staff to 17-25 residents which inevitably means that, because of a 24-hour rota, one staff member-frequently young and inex perienced-has to cope for periods of up to 12 hours on his own. With a volatile mix of residents, fear of violence is natural, and a survey was undertaken to assess the actual level of viol ence, to see whether it were possible to weed out potential violent residents and whether changes should be made in stav training and numbers. Actual violence was on the whole less than anti cipated and was normally well contained; those who showed violence were frequently the least predictable; and staff should be better trained for the job; staff confidence is infectious and confidence is essential in dealing with explosive situations Moni toring and training need to be continued, but it appears that hostels may well be able to accept as residents some offenders who had been thought to be unsuitable.