THERAPIST'S ATTITUDES TO CONTINUING EDUCATION*

Attitudes and preferences were surveyed in therapists undertaking an introductory continuing education unit in Psychology. The findings of the survey indicated clear support for continuing education in the health sciences. The survey also supplied an objective evaluation of how satisfactorily the unit was taught, and how effectively the unit achieved its aims, and provided information valuable for the planning of future continuing education programmes.     

THE GOOD PRACTICE OF THE POLICE: AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH IN DEALING WITH OFFENDERS WHO ABUSE/MISUSE ALCOHOL

The office of constable is taken by declaration and specificallysays ‘... prevent all offences against the persons andproperties...’. The police service, like many hospitalsand particularly casualty units, comes into initial contactwith a high proportion of society's problems, including thoserelated to people who cannot handle alcohol. This results directlyor indirectly in a significant number of issues affecting sociallife detrimentally and at a tremendous cost to the public purse.These points at some time or another have been adequately illustratedby articles or television documentaries. The police servicehas a duty to prevent crime. The author maintains that, throughthe collaboration of the criminal justice agencies and healthservices, and using a simple approach, behaviour could be alteredsignificantly enough to contribute towards a reduction in repeatoffending and a consequent decline in the use of public funds.The author believes that a great number of people, too largeto even contemplate quantifying, would have a better qualityof life, a goal sought by many, and that the police serviceis well placed to participate constructively in the rehabilitationof offenders who have a ‘drink’ problem.