On probation
Sir: June Lait's criticism of the probation service (1 July) and in particular the punitive/welfare conflict in juvenile courts is well-founded. However the picture is somewhat different in adult courts. Here the doctrine of moral responsibility is still the basis for judgment, but the sharp sword of justice is often (and I think, rightly) tempered by the description, through a Social Enquiry Report, of an offender's Personality and background.
Like all social work agencies we have our proportion of careerists, freeloaders, and People who clearly prefer the comfort of neo-Freudian discussion to actually meeting the client. However most of us, I think, try quite hard to assist the muddled, depressed, unhappy souls who are our responsibility. The fact that we cannot guarantee results does not, I think, constitute an overriding argument against our continued existence. In fact as a colleague of mine once remarked: 'The probation service may be a load of horse-manure, but spread out thinly it can do some good.' A J. G. Heath Inner London Probation and After-Care Service, 289 Borough High Street, London SE1
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