Perils of Probation
| Date | 01 March 1959 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455055900900106 |
| Published date | 01 March 1959 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
6
PERILS
OF
PROBATION
Under
the
above
heading,
spread
across
two
columns,
the
Daily
Telegraph
opened
its
correspondence
column
on
6th
February
1959
with
the
following
letter,
first
giving
it
a
sub-heading
&dquo;System
Can
Harm
the
Young
Offender&dquo;.
Sir-The
Government’s
penal
reforms,
announced
by
the
Home
Secretary
and
outlined
in
the
White
Paper,
&dquo;Penal
Practice
in
a
Changing
Society&dquo;,
are
extremely
welcome
and
almost
unpardonably
overdue.
I
would
suggest
that
the
inquiry
into
all
aspects
of
the
Probation
Service
is
more
important
than
would
at
first
appear
and
must
in
no
way
be
treated
as
a
subsidiary
to
the
many
other
vital
matters
concerned.
That
probation
has
done
good
must
not
prevent
us
from
acknowledging
the
fact
that
it
can
be
most
harmful
in
a
way
that
both
probation
officer
and
probationer
may
fail
to
realise.
Frequently
the
numerous
problems
of
a
proba-
tioner
are
caused
only
by
his
being
on
probation.
A
person
can
be
placed
on
probation
for
a
period
of
one
to
three
years;
during
which
time
he
has
the
probation
officer
to
&dquo;advise,
assist
and
befriend&dquo;
him.
This
time
factor
in
probation
is
distinctly
harmful,
especially
in
the
case
of
a
first
offender,
which
so
many
probationers
are.
He
may
find
his
desire
to
reform
thwarted
at
every
turn.
Many
unwholesome
alliances
have
been
formed
in
the
probation
officer’s
waiting
room.
In
the
case
of
juveniles
an
appearance at
court
is
secret,
but
sooner
or
later
the
fact
that
a
person
is
on
probation
is
bound
to
become
known.
Many
probationers
come
to
regard
themselves
as
members
of
the
law-breaking
con-
fraternity
and
not
as
past
offenders.
The
attitude
of
the
general
public
to
a
person
who
is
&dquo;still
on
probation&dquo;
is
not
usually
helpful.
Probationers
find
themselves
not
trusted
when
it
becomes
known
that
they
are
on
probation;
the
seriousness
or
otherwise
of
the
offence
is
seldom
considered.
Yours
faithfully,
Slough,
Bucks.
EDWARD
W.
BUBB
Interest
and
importance
is
added
to
this letter
perhaps,
by
the
fact
that
Mr.
Bubb
was
at
one
time
training
for
the
Probation
Service,
but
he
did
not
continue with
that
and
is
now
a
teacher.
The
letter
seemed
to
justify
some
comment
as
a
matter
of
public
importance
which
must
cause
some
concern
to
uninformed
readers,
and
we
replied
the
same
day
to
the
Daily
Telegraph
as
follows :-
Dear
Sir-Probation
officers
would
readily
admit
that
there
are
weaknesses
in
their
Service;
they
have
been
drawing
attention
to
them
for
years
and
that
is
why
they
so
warmly
welcome
the
enquiry
now
promised.
Many
diffi-
culties
arise
from
the
use
of
probation
by
the
courts
on
a
basis
of
inadequate
information
and
from
the
fact
that
heavy
caseloads
do
not
allow
officers
always
to
give
the
attention
they
would
wish
to
every
individual
case.
These
are
matters
which
can
be
remedied
and
the
Departmental
Committee
may
help
to
show
how.
But
the
difficulties
met
by
the
boy
on
probation,
to
which
Mr.
Bubb
refers,
are
met
in
much
less
hopeful
circumstances
by
those
who
have
been
to
borstal,
deten-
tion,
or
prison.
Probation
keeps
a
boy
or
youth
in
normal
circulation
without
the
terrible
disruption
of
his
life
occasioned
by
the
best
institutional
training.
The
risks
of
meeting
in
the
waiting
room
are
minimised
by
careful
planning
of
interviews;
and
the
friends
and
neighbours
know
in
any
case
that
a
boy
is
in
trouble
whether
he
is
placed
on
probation
or
not.
If,
as
your
correspondent
suggests,
a
boy
is
making
good
there
is
no
need
for
him
to
continue
his
long
period
of
probation;
the
courts
have
the
power
to
discharge
a
probation
order
on
grounds
of
good
progress,
and do
so
in
nearly
ten
per
cent.
of
cases.
Yours
faithfully,
FRANK
DAWTRY,
6th
February
1959
General
Secretary,
N.A.P.O.
But,
this
letter
has
not
appeared
and
Daily
Telegraph
readers
may
be
left
with
the
impression
that
probation
has
perils
which
cannot
be
explained.
The
Editor
of
course
has
the
final
right
to
choose
the
letters
for
his
column
but
it
seemed
a
pity
to
us
that
a
letter
given
such
prominence
a
few
days
after
the
promised
enquiry
into
probation
had
been
announced,
should
have been
allowed
to
remain
with-
out
support
or
answer.
F.D.
Probation
Forum
Professional
Standing
Probation
officers
have
now
reached
the
stage
when,
in
their
own
interest
and
that
of
the
public,
they
should
direct
their
own
affairs
by
achieving
professional
status.
At
present
they
have
no
authority
to
discipline
them-
selves
or
control
entrance
into
the
Service
by
the
stipula-
tion
of
the
required
qualifications,
and
until
they
do
these
things
they
cannot
be
accepted
as
a
profession.
They
are,
therefore,
subject
to
the
discipline
and
control
of
qualifica-
tions
of
the
Home
Office,
Probation
Committees
and
Principal
Probation
Officers,
and
so
far
as
can
be
ascer-
tained
have
no
protection
from
any one
of
the
Authori-
ties.
If
an
officer
wishes
to
make
any
appeal
against
a
decision,
through
the
Association,
it
would
be heard
only
by
courtesy
and
not
by
right.
This
state
of
affairs
may
have
been
satisfactory
in
the
early
days,
when
the
service
was
experimental
and
while
maturity
was
being
achieved.
Now
we
are
no
longer
experimental
or
immature,
we
are
an
integral
part
of
the
penal
system,
and
now
more
responsibility
is
being
given
to
us.
At
first
it
was
simple
probation,
then
came
matri-
monial
procedure,
followed
by
after-care - the
latter
still
to
be
extended
-
care
and
protection,
out
of control
and
truancy.
The
trend
of
procedure
seems
to
be
that
whatever
type
of
Order
is
made
by
any
Court,
be
it
Assize,
Crown,
Quarter
Sessions,
Magistrates
or
Juvenile,
will
terminate
in
the
Court,
with
us.
And
it
seems
this
will
soon
extend
to
the
Divorce
Courts.
For
all
of
these
a
knowledge
of
sociology,
psychology
and
criminology
is
necessary.
Each
branch
of
the
work
calls
for
special
technique,
and
only
the
probation
officers
themselves
are
in
a
position
to
stipulate
the
depth
and
breadth
of
the
qualifications
that
are
required.
These
are
additional
to
the
general
standard
of
educational
achieve-
ments
that
should
be
required.
Some
while
back
the
Institute
of
Psychology
was
asked
to
prepare
an
appraise-
ment
of
the
personality
of
a
probation
officer,
and
a
very
good
job
was
made,
but
we
were
not
asked
to
supply
the
foundation
of
the
work
from
which
the
Institute
could
build
its
appraisement.
With
the
development
of
the
organisation
within
the
County
areas
of
combination
and
of
boroughs,
the
vexed
question
of
&dquo;specialisation&dquo;
in
the
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