A Pioneer in Probation
| Date | 01 November 1938 |
| Published date | 01 November 1938 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455053800300307 |
| Author | N.M.P. Blyth |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
42
may
stand
as
a
symbol
of
different
psychological
states,
and
a
rigid
and
mechanical
reading
of
motive
does
not
do
justice
to
the
true
foundations
of
human
behavior.
The
progress
made
in
psychological
testing
and
the
attempts
at
psychological
guidance
are
of
obvious
importance
for
the
social
worker.
Many
of
his
problems
arise
on
the
border
line
where
normal
intelligence
begins
to
pass
into
mental
deficiency,
and
some
of
them
no
doubt
where
unusual
endow-
ment
is
denied
expression.
The
possibility
of
supple-
menting
the
judgment
of
the
ordinary
observer
by
the
application
of
properly
graded
and
methodically
applied
tests
ought
to
help
him
greatly.
Again
the
work
of
constructive
re-adjustment
of
the
mal-
adjusted
ought
to
be
helped
by
the
increasing
possi-
bility
of
vocational
guidance.
Only
a
few
of
the
points
at
which
the
work
of
the
psychologist
touches
directly
probation
and
other
social
work
have
been
mentioned
in
this
article.
But
enough
has
been
said
to
explain
and
to
justify
the
increasing
demand
for
psychological
clinics
with
a
proper
staff
of
trained
psychologists
and
psychiat-
rists.
A
trained
psychologist,
dealing
with
a
diffi-
cult
case,
may
have
to
devote
many
hours
for
a
series
of
months
to
it.
He
has
to
have
the
proper
technique
for
the
job.
The
ordinary
social
worker
has
neither
the
time
nor
the
training
for
this
sort
of
thing,
and
rightly
asks
that
opportunities
for
psy-
chological
treatment
shall
be
increased.
But
mean-
time,
let
him
remember
that
there
are
quite
a
number
of
psychological
problem
with
which
he
himself,
with
a
reasonable
experience
of
human
nature
and
a
real
interest
in
it,
is
best
qualified
to
deal.
It
is
unfortunate
to
allow
people
ito
get
the
idea
that
they
are
problem
cases,
unless
that
is
inevitable.
Let
us
therefore
by
all
means
agitate
for
clinics,
but
let
the
practical
person
at
the
same
time
use
every
oppor-
tunity
to
increase
his
own
knowledge
of
human
nature.
A
PIONEER
IN
PROBATION
The
death
of
Mr.
Cecil
Chapman,
for
many
years
a
Metropolitan
magistrate,
has
removed
from
us
a
man
who
was,
thirty
years
and
more
back,
extremely
well
known
for
his
sympathetic
interest
in
the
treatment
of
offenders
and
for
his
encourage-
ment
of
all
those
who
worked
for
children.
Years
wipe
out
as
much
as
they
bring,
and
in
between
the
beginning
of
the
London
Juvenile
Courts
and
their
present
developments
have
come
not
only
the
processes
of
time,
but
the
miseries
of
the
War;
and
the
natural
evolution
of
probation
work
has
been
forced
into
a
(possibly)
too
rapid
growth.
To
judge
by
obituary
notices,
it
has
been
almost
forgotten
that
in
1907
and
for
years
onward
Mr.
Chapman
was
they &dquo;
Ghildren’s
Magistrate,&dquo;
and
that
he
was
one
of
those
who
actively
worked
for
and
brought
into
being
the
first
Children
Act
in
1908.
To
this
day
the
Juvenile
Court
probation
officers
owe
some
of
their
helps
and
privileges
to
his
wise
initiative,
worked
out
through
his
probation
officer,
Miss
Lance,
still
remembered
in
Sout’hwark
and
Bermondsey.
I
shall
always
be
thankful
for
having
begun
work
under
the
guidance
of
a
man
who
reverenced
child-
hood
and
was
unfailingly
sympathetic
in
all
that
concerned
the
treatment
of
young
delinquents.
For
the
helpless
and
deprived
he
would
back
any
con-
struotive
form
of
remedy
suggested
and
without
losing
hope
in
failures.
The
Little
Commonwealth
is
an
example
of
this,
and
though
it
may
not
have
been
considered
a
successful
experiment,
it
never-
theless
opened
the
way
to
a
form
of
treatment
that
is
still
in
its
beginning,
but
is
destined
to
grow.
It
was
a
great
thing
for
a
probation
officer
in
those
first
early
years
of
the
Probation
Act
to
know
that
she
could
look
to
her
magistrate
for
constant
kindness
and
encouragement
in
all
her
efforts,
even
when
unsuccessful,
to
help
the
children
and
the
poor.
Such
immediate
and
understanding
help
was
forth-
coming,
not
only
for
the
remedial
work
which
is
the
chief
concern
of
probation,
but
for
the
less
con-
structive
present
relief
of
poverty
which
always
appealed
to
the
sympathies
of
a
man
so
kind
and
so
human.
No
mention
of
him
would
be
complete
without
reference
to
his
championship
of
women
and
his
patience
in
listening
to
them
and
to
the
great
kind-
ness
which,
in
looking
back,
seems
to
me
to
have
marked
his
work
in
the
Juvenile
Courts.
George
Herbert’s
words,
&dquo; All
worldly
joys
go
less
To
the
one
joy
of
doing
kindnesses
&dquo;
always
make
me
think
of
Mr.
Chapman.
N.
M.
P.
BLYTH.
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