A Magistrates' Clerk Looks At Probation
| Author | F. Morton Smith |
| Published date | 01 August 1938 |
| Date | 01 August 1938 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/026455053800300206 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
27
A
MAGISTRATES’
CLERK
LOOKS
AT
PROBATION
BY
F.
MORTON
SMITH,
B.A.
(MAGISTRATES’
CLERK
OF
SUNDERLAND)
An
address
to
the
Northern
Summer
School
My
choice
of
a
subject
was
s
in-
fluenced
to
some
extent
by
the
words
of
the
Archbishop
o
f
York
at
the
end
of
that
excellent
little
pamphet
entitled &dquo;
The
Pro-
bation
Service,&dquo;
issued
recently
by
the
Home
Office.
&dquo;
The
work
of
probation
officers
should
not
be
regarded
as
a
dispensable
though
estimable
ad-
junct
to
the
administration
of
Justice,
but
as
an
essential
part
of
it
without
which
it
cannot
be
altogether
just.&dquo;
If
your
work
is
to
be
regarded
as
an
essential
part
of
the
administration
of
Justice,
for
which
I
am
to
some
extent
at
least
responsible,
then
I
thought
that
it
would
not
be
regarded
as
presump-
tion
on
my
part
if
I
attempted
to
give
you
some
of
the
impressions
of
your
work
which
I
have
formed
as
a
result
of
the
very
happy
understanding
I
have
established
with
the
probation
officers
in
Sunderland
and
other
areas.
First
let
us
consider
that
branch
of
your
work
which
should
take
first
place
at
all
times-the
super-
vision
of
offenders.
Someone
has
called
it
the
&dquo;re-
-conditioning
of
misfits.&dquo;
As
you
are
aware,
your
work
of
supervision
re-
ceived
statutory
authority
when
the
Probation
of
Offenders
Aot
was
passed
in
1907.
The
probation
officers’
work
was
increased
by
subsequent
Statutes
but
I
consider
it
of
the
utmost
importance
to
keep
in
mind
that
the
supervision
of
offenders
is
your
primary
duty
and,
if
some
sacrifice
has
to
be
made
in
the
discharge
of
your
duties,
through
lack
of
time
or
other
circumstances
over
which
you
have
no
control,
then
I
conceive
it
to
be
the
correct
thing
at
all
times
to
devote
adequate
attention
to
your
work
of
supervision.
You
have
learned
already,
of
course,
that
if
you
are
to
be
successful
in
the
great
profession
which
you
have
chosen,
you
must
draw
deeply
from
the
wells
of
experience.
You
must
be
prepared
to
examine
the
causes
of
human
failure
and
not
merely
be
content
with
providing
superficial
treatment.
It
may,
therefore,
be
the
proper
course
for
you
to
bring
a
probationer
before
the
Court
in
order
that
a
further
attempt
to
develop
his
self-respect
may
be
made,
perhaps
by
removing
him
from
a
contaminat-
ing
environment,
or
by
the
insertion
of
additional
reasonable
conditions
in
his
recognisance
whereby
you
will
have
more
control
over
his
daily
life
and
actions.
Statistics
were
ever
a
faulty
guide
and
the
success-
ful
probation
officer
is
not
always
the
man
or
woman
who
compiles
the
highest
percentage
of
successes
among
those
committed
to
his
or
her
charge.
I
go
even
further
and
say
that
experience
has
shown
me
that
the
probation
officer
in
exceptionally
difficult
cases
should
never
be
content
to
rely
on
his
own
judgment
alone.
He
should
never
hesitate
to
bring
before
his
Probation
Committee
problems
con-
cerning
which
he
entertains
any
doubt
or
uncertainty.
There
rests
upon
the
members
of
every
Probation
Committee
a
growing
responsibility
to
meet
at
fre-
quent
intervals
and
to
invite
their
officers
to
share
with
them
the
difficulties
which
have
been
en-
Gountered
in
the
daily
routine
of
the
Probation
service.
But,
most
important,
is the
great
truth
which
you
all
will
learn
from
the
experience
of
common
life.
Such
experience
cannot
reach
or
benefit
you
unless
and
until
you
make
the
visiting
of
the
homes
of
those
entrusted
to
your
care
your
foremost
task.
If,
therefore,
you
intend
to
make
a
serious
at-
tempt
to
restore
your
probationers
to
a
full
and
proper
s2nse
of
citizenship
by
an
examination
of
the
causes
of
their
failures
rather
than
by
superficial
treatment,
you
must
begin
your
examination
in
the
home.
There
and
there
alone
can
you
understand
the
environment
which
may
have
been
such
a
con-
tributing
factor
in
your
probationer’s
lapse
from
the
normal
mode
of
living.
Do
you
not
often
find
that
your
first
task
in
reclaiming
an
offender,
and
per-
haps
particularly
a
juvenile
offender,
is
to
make
your
influence
felt
in
his
home?
Nothing
is
more
likel
to
bring
you
success
in
this
work
of
supervision
than
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