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Police Contribution to the Development of Probation: An Historical Account

NCJ Number
148319
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 20 Issue: 3-4 Dated: (1994) Pages: 61-84
Author(s)
C Lindner
Date Published
1994
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the frequently overlooked contribution of the police to the development of probation, including the once-popular role of the police probation officer, and traces the factors that led to the cessation of police as probation officers.
Abstract
Early probation officers were a heterogeneous group, including social workers, municipal workers detached from their usual job functions, and volunteers. In some cases, police officers were detailed from their normal work assignments to serve as police probation officers. Some of the earliest probation services were headed by former police officers, because it was not clear whether probation represented more appropriately a police or a social service. A short but intense conflict occurred, largely during the 19th Century, between social workers and police officers for control of the probation service. The social work-oriented rehabilitation view of probation triumphed, leading to the extinction of the role of police probation officer. As probation officers sought to professionalize through the development of a professional identity, the volunteer also disappeared from probation work. Although social work concepts such as treatment and rehabilitation dominated the field for many years, in recent times many probation agencies have turned toward a control-oriented service, which is, ironically, more characteristic of police work than of social work. 58 references (Author abstract modified)

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