probation forum
| DOI | 10.1177/026455056501100309 |
| Published date | 01 September 1965 |
| Date | 01 September 1965 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
112
FIFTY
YEARS
AGO
From
The
Journal
of
the
National
Association
of
Probatioti
Officers
No. 6,
June
1915
The
following
extract
is
from
a
paper
by
Mr.
W.
C.
Crabb
entitled
Probation
Officers
and
Probationers:
Their
Relation
toward
each
other
I
REFERRED
EARLIER
in
my
paper
to
the
difficulty
of
being
friend
as
well
as
Officer.
Unbending
the
official
attitude
must
be
done
at
the
right
time
and
in
the
right
way.
An
attempt
at
a
nearer
approach
to
some
people
may
be
misunder-
stood
and
invite
familiarity.
This
must
be
avoided
at
all
costs.
We
all
know
how
true
it
is
that
&dquo;familiarity
breeds
contempt&dquo;.
Better
maintain
a
severely
official
attitude
than
countenance
this.
To
my
mind
one
of
the
most
discouraging
signs
in
a
probationer
is
a
persistent
endeavour
to
cultivate
familiarity
with
his
Officer.
Where
a
Male
Probation
Oflicer
has
to
deal
with
a
female
probationer
this
same
thing
will
have
to
be
guarded
against
most
vigilantly.
A
kind
and
gracious,
but
at
the
same
time
serious
and
dignified
demeanour
is
safest
in
all
such
cases.
It
will
not
encourage
those
vain
conceits-which,
on
the
authority
of
one
of
our
lady
friends,
in
a
very
excellent
paper
in
this
place
on
a
previous
occasion,
does
sometimes
happen-and
will
have
that
re-inforcing
effect
which
the
influence
of
the
strong
has
upon
the
weak.
I
agree
with
the
same
lady
that
the
creation
of
oflicial
relationships
between
the
opposite
sexes
contains
an
element
of
danger
to
both,
but
given
the
man
with
those
qualities
before
mentioned
he
may
in
some
cases,
if
not
all,
equal
in
doing
good,
or
even
excel,
an
Officer
of
the
probationer’s
own
sex.
probation
forum
Every
case
load
is
inclusive
of
a
number
of
probationers
who
have
reached
a
stage
where
for
one
reason
or
another
active
casework
by
the
probation
officer
is
either
impracticable
or
undesirable.
Practice
in
relation
to
such
cases
varies.
Some
officers
seek
the
approval
of
the
Case
Committee
for
exercising
only
nominal
supervision.
Some
exercise
nominal
supervision
without
any
express
approval
for
doing
so.
Others
seek
the
early
discharge
of
the
order,
but
many
magistrates
wish
to
reserve
this
sign
of
approbation
for
what
is
clearly
good
progress
by
the
probationer’s
own
effort.
Another
line
of
action
suggests
itself
by
the
fact
that
in
most
probation
orders
the
requirements
relating
to
good
behaviour
and
those
relating
to
the
paying
and
receiving
of
visits
are
separately
set
out.
It
would,
therefore,
be
quite
possible
to
apply
to
the
supervising
court
for
the
deletion
of
all
the
requirements
except
that
of
good
behaviour,
thus
reducing
the
order
virtually
to
a
conditional
discharge.
I
should
like
to
know
how
such
a
practice
would
commend
itself
to
my
colleagues
as
it
might
well
be
a
way
of
releasing
officers
from
a
time
consuming
routine
in
respect
of
people
who
no
longer
(if
they
ever
did)
profit
from
it.
A. G. HUDSON
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