Book review: Rehabilitation and Probation in England and Wales 1876–1962
| Author | Maurice Vanstone |
| Published date | 01 November 2015 |
| Date | 01 November 2015 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/1748895815604949 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
Book reviews 635
Raymond Gard, Rehabilitation and Probation in England and Wales 1876–1962, Bloomsbury:
London, 2014; 255 pp.: 9781472526328, £65 (hbk)
Reviewed by: Maurice Vanstone, Swansea University, UK
Raymond Gard deems the period covered by this book as significant because it begins
with the appointment of the first police court missionary and ends with the Morison
Report which, it is claimed, symbolized a high point of probation. Although I enjoyed
reading it and would encourage others interested in probation to do so, I am not con-
vinced that the early 1960s are a justifiable end point for a probation history. I will return
to that later in this review.
The aims of the book are set out clearly, namely to detail probation’s entrance on to
the criminal justice stage; to demonstrate that the politically initiated changes and gov-
ernance experienced by the probation service since the 1980s are not new; to cast light
on the intricate linkage between politics, policy and practice during the period covered;
to show how understandings of psychology and social work influenced both police court
missionaries and probation officers; and ‘to produce a history that shows probation’s
development to be messy, uneven and contested’ (p.6). Each of these aims is achieved
admirably in six chapters that are divided into distinct time periods: the story of how the
police court missionaries established themselves as a widely recognized and accepted
voluntary agency in the criminal justice system (1876 to 1907); the birth of probation and
its uncertain early years (1907 to 1914); the first manifestations of central control and the
treatment model (1914 to 1928); the emergence of a properly state funded system (1928
to 1938); the encroachment of psychology as an influence and probation in the war years
(1938 to 1948); and the entrenchment and acceptance of the treatment and social work
model (1950 to 1962). As the author acknowledges, the match between these processes
and the actual dates is not a precise one and the processes themselves are not linear,
nevertheless he carves out a history that, interestingly, is at once familiar and original.
The book is based on a PhD thesis and from that stems its many strengths as well as a
degree of weakness. It pays due attention to the detail of most relevant histories while at
the same time adds sufficient fresh detail and insight to enrich the cumulative history of
recent years: for example, it provides extra layers of information about the Criminal
Justice Act 1925, showing how it was a key element in the progress and expansion of the
probation service while simultaneously opening the way for greater central control and
the imposition of limitations on the power of local authorities. It sets out a persuasive
argument that the Act ushered in far greater use of probation by the courts and in this
sense was an important factor in establishing probation as a credible and authentic
presence in the criminal justice system. It is a further strength of the book that each chap-
ter is backed by copious notes on sources and other information which will be invaluable
to future historians and, in particular, other postgraduate students.
As I said at the beginning of this review, the rationale for the cut off point of 1962 is
not convincing. Indisputably it is an important stage in the history of probation but it is
not an end point of significance. It might be a convenient cut off point for a manageable
PhD, but not for a history unless, of course, it was to be followed by a second volume. In
terms of official confidence in probation and the casework (or treatment) model it was a
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