Drawing upon qualitative data, a historical accounting is presented of how probation officers responded to the bureaucratization of their department. Patterns of accommodation resembled those described by Presthus as (1) upwardly mobile, (2) indifferent, and (3) ambivalent. An analysis of these patterns helps provide an understanding of organizational dynamics prevailing in contemporary agencies. Those officers most suited to a bureaucratic setting dominate today's probation practice. (Publisher abstract)