Parole : on the Threshold
| Date | 01 March 1968 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455056801400102 |
| Published date | 01 March 1968 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
4
generally
recognised
that
unless
a
service
has
an
adequate
population
base,
i,t
cannot
provide
specialised
facilities
for
minority
needs.
The
probation
service
has
already
pioneered
co-operation
across
local
authority
boundaries,
and
it
is
highly
probable
that
the
Royal
Commission
on
Local
Government
will
recommend
a
move
towards
larger
units.
Moreover,
the
present
state
of
local
authority
social
work
services
in
Scotland
gives
little
confidence
in
the
ability
of
these
same
authorities
to
develop
a
new
service,
and
it
would
have
been
an
assurance
to
social
workers
of
all
kinds
if
the
new
service
had
been
given
a
fresh
start
under
new
administrative
arrange-
ments.
The
Secretary
of
State,
however,
has
succumbed
to
political
pressure
from
the
large
burghs,
and
in
defiance
of
the
arguments
in
his
own
White
Paper
has
decided
to
produce
a
comprehensive
service
by
splitting
up
the
probation
service,
pending
the
Royal
Commission’s
Report.
It
is
exactly
this
kind
of
political
manoeuvring
which
makes
probation
officers
suspicious
of
local
govern-
ment
control.
We
should
be
developing
a
service
which
will
best
serve
the
needs
of
clients,
not
which
will
best
maintain
the
privileges
of
towns
concerned
only
with
loss
of
status.
PAROLE :
ON
THE
THRESHOLD
Observations
by
members
of
a
Local
Review
Committee*
As
DAVID
HAXBY
says
1,
developments
are
taking
place
rapidly
in
the
field
of
parole
at
the
present
time.
Since
his
article
was
written
the
procedures
for
the
selection
of
prisoners
for
parole
have
been
introduced.
In
April
the
first
parolees
will
be
coming
under
the
supervision
of
probation
officers
and
by
the
end
of
the
year
the
service
will
have
at
least
an
initial
measure
of
experience
of the
full
operation
of
the
new
provisions.
This
development
gives
the
opportunity
for
continual
and
increasingly
well-informed
appraisal
of
the
parole
’system
as
a
whole
by
the
service.
As
members
of
a
Local
Review
Committee
which
has
dealt
with
some
300
prisoners
during
the
last
three
months
of
1967,
we
have
had
a
valued
oppor-
tunity
of
being
among
those
who
have
been
closely
involved
in
the
implementa-
tion
of
some
of
the
earliest
provisions.
This
has
led
to
the
feeling
that
the
parole
provisions
do
represent
a
promising
development
and
one
which
the
service
can
undertake
with
some
confidence.
It
may
be
that
some
of
what
is
written
here
(in
December
1967)
will
be
common
knowledge
by
the
time
it
appears
in
print,
and
some
may
be
out
of
date;
but
we
feel
that
the
observations
which
can
be
made
at
this
stage
may
be
helpful,
particularly
perhaps
in
provid-
ing
a
balance
to
some
of
the
criticisms
which
have
been
expressed
hitherto.
INTERVIEWS
Each
person
who
is
eligible
for
parole
is
interviewed
by
a
member
of the
Local
Review
Committee
before
the
Committee
considers
his
case.
David
Haxby
(writing
before
the
Rules
were
available)
thought
that
the
purpose
of
this
inter-
view
was
not
clear.
In
fact
~Ihe
purpose
is
clearly
explained
in
the
Local
Review
Committee
Rules
2,
and
in
the
interim
notes
relating
to
Local
Review
Com-
mittees
which
were
published
before
the
Rules
came
into
force.
The
purpose
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