Mr. Griffiths, Chief Probation Officer of the Northern Ireland Probation and Aftercare Service, recently called for a change in the probation service. The change advocated by Mr. Griffiths is from the current probation emphasis on a mix of rehabilitative and control tasks to a primary focus on containment. The rationale for this position is that probation can only become an alternative to imprisonment if it is viewed as offering a punitive and confining structure for persons who previously would have been imprisoned. However, the history of prisons and of noncustodial penal measures shows that alternatives to custody and the objective of punishment and containment have been tried before. They have failed to halt the crime rate and to reduce the prison population. Some of the alternatives are a function of political ideologies rather than a genuine reaction to crime and overcrowded prisons. Instead of a shift in approach, existing measures in the probation service should be enhanced. The client should have a number of choices in interactions with probation officers. Day centers, employment liaison officers, and hostels should be regarded as necessary additional resources in the efforts to engage the client in constructive activities in the community. Nineteen references are listed.