Probation
| Published date | 01 June 1956 |
| Date | 01 June 1956 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455055600800201 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Probation
RESPONSIBILITY
AND
FAITH
By
The
EARL
OF
FEVERSHAM,
D.S.O.,
D.C.
[The
Presidential
Address
to
the
Annual
Conference
of
N.A.P.O.,
1956).
IT
IS
NOW
20
years
since
the
report
of
the
Departmental
-~-
Committee
on
the Social
Services
in
Courts
of
Summary
Jurisdiction
was
published.
As
a
member
of
that
Commit-
tee,
I
ask
myself
whether
the
developments
it
recommended
have
taken
place
within
the
Service-and
what
new
factors
and
requirements
have
emerged
in
the
social
revolution
that
has
taken
place
in
the
intervening
years.
In
the
earlier
days
one
felt
that
a
probation
officer
could
only
achieve
his
ends
by
force
of
his
personality,
and
by
advice
and
example.
Today,
with
the
increasing
know-
ledge
of
the
springs
of
human
behaviour,
emphasis
is
laid
on
the
understanding
of
human
relationships
and
the
modi-
fication
of
personal
attitudes.
This
approach
requires
of
a
probation
officer
much
more
skilled
use
of
his
own
personality.
The
distinction
between
benevolent
assistance
and
skilled
treatment
is
of
great
practical
significance.
A
vast
fund
of
theoretical
knowledge
is
now
available
-
and
is
ever
in-
creasing,
or
rather
developing.
It
is
a
great
challenge
and
responsibility,
in
these
times
of
swiftly
advancing
specialists,
to
grasp
and
to
use
the
developments;
and
it
is
a
unique
contribution
which
the
probation
officer
makes
by
applying
the
advance
in
knowledge - never
getting
it
out
of
per-
spective,
but
always
blending
it
into
circumstances
and
experience.
The
Worthy
Blend
The
wisdom
of
the
wise
and
the
experience
of
the
old
is
worth
more
than
the
theory
of
the
young -
and
the
keen-
ness
of
the
inexperienced.
But
by
combining
both
in
a
common
pool,
the
total
worth
is
ten
times
greater
than
before.
The
duties
and
range
of
the
work
of
the
Probation
Service
has
grown
to
such
an
extent
that
its
impact
is
much
wider
than
was
originally
the
case.
Now
the
Service
is
a
full-time
one;
engaged
not
only
in
dealing
with
offenders,
but
also
in
dealing
with
a
range
of
after-care
work
and
with
matrimonial
conciliation;
whilst
also
providing
a
most
valued
service
of
information
to
the
courts.
The
outstanding
point
of
this
growth
is
that,
within
all
fields
of
its
work,
duties
have
increased
through
the
greater
use
of
probation
officers.
They
play
an
ever
increasing
part
in
the
general
well-being
of
Society
because
people
realise
that
their
services
give
such
benefit.
It
would
be
idle
to
pretend
that
men
and
women
will
come
into
the
Probation
Service,
or
succeed
there,
without
a sense
of
vocation
and
an
idealistic
purpose.
But
today
these
attributes
can
no
longer
be
exploited
by
requesting
people
to
work
for
less
than
their
worth.
It
is
necessary
that
the
probation
officer’s
standard
should be
as
high,
and
recognition
accorded
to
him
as
great,
as
in
any
other
profession.
Today
the
specialist
services
in
science
and
material
pursuits
are
highly
rewarded.
The
Burnham
scale
proposals
for
teachers
are
generous
enough
not
to
deter
a
man
with
a
vocation
for
teaching
from
taking
up
that
profession.
A
Great
Responsibility
The
qualities
which
go
to
serve
the
community
in
less
tangible
ways,
are
admired
as
highly
as
ever,
but
admira-
tion
for
the
Probation
Service
is
not
material
recognition
-
and
this
is
a
position
which
calls
loudly
for
review.
The
modern
probation
officer
is
an
expert
in
his
own
field
and
he
carries
a
unique
personal
responsibility
without
parallel
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