In a preliminary phase of a parole study in Canada, interviews were held with eight parole officers and six ex-offenders. The effort aimed to explore agents' daily job performance, clients' and officers' mutual perceptions of each other, and parolees' reintegration problems. In practice, agents report choosing aid over control and frequently overlooking minor infractions admitted by their clients in the interests of assisting them to overcome such personal problems as alcoholism. While agents perceive ambiguity in their dual function and tend to view most of their approaches as aid, clients see any form of the agent's intervention into their lives as a control strategy. Due to this attitude, clients forego the potential benefits of the aid extended to them. Agents also feel that much effort is exerted with ex-offenders capable of reintegrating successfully by themselves, while others in need of more extensive assistance fail to receive adequate attention. Present conclusions should be confirmed by a more extensive study, but they indicate a need for redefining the role of parole agents.