A Canadian Probation Service
| Published date | 01 March 1968 |
| Author | S.J. Rees |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455056801400105 |
| Date | 01 March 1968 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
contact, liaison with the Clerk and other means-the most effective may prove
to be improvement in the social enquiry report itself, which ought to reflect a
clear and informed understanding of its scope and purpose.
REFERENCES
1
Report of the Committee on the Business of the Criminal Courts. (Cmnd. 1289)
Feb. 61, paras 339-347.
2
Report of the Departmental Committee on the Probation Service. (Cmnd. 1650)
Mar. 62.
3
Home Office Circular No. 138/1963, 24th June, 1963.
A CANADIAN PROBATION
SERVICE
A Newcomer’s View
S. J. Rees
British Columbia Probation Service
(formerly of Hertfordshire Probation Service)
PROBATION in the city of Vancouver is not completely synonymous with the
practice in other parts of Canada. It has much in common with the practice of
probation in England, but there is much that is new here. There are differences
in law and differences in attitudes, to which it has been hard to adjust.
To be sworn in is a first step in becoming a probation officer in the province
of British Columbia. Probation officers are civil servants, must swear allegiance
to the crown, must promise not to disclose confidential information and not to
make money from their work,-slightly ambiguous! Photographs and finger-
prints are taken for the officer’s warrant and identification card. Fingerprints
are sent to Ottawa to ensure that a known criminal is not being employed. This
was in some ways a rude awakening.
ORGANISATION
Administratively, a probation officer in Vancouver and in the province of
British Columbia is a member of the Corrections Branch of the Attorney
General’s Department. Other members include security officers of the prisons,
parole officers, and counsellors from the province’s Young Offenders Unit.’ The
policy of the Department is quickly handed out to new employees: the objective
of corrections is to protect society, reform and rehabilitate the individual offender.
The priorities in a probation officer’s work are clear. His responsibility is to
supervise offenders placed on probation and to carry out the investigations
requested by the courts. This does not preclude the use of initiative or the
enjoyment of a certain amount of autonomy. It does mean that people whose
problems do have a bearing on delinquency or on pre-sentence investigations,
should be referred to other agencies. A probation officer here is expected to
concentrate his efforts exclusively on providing the information which will help
a magistrate...
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