A HANDBOOK OF PROBATION AND SOCIAL WORK OF THE COURTS
Edited by Mrs. L. Le Mesurier, O.B.E.
Although this book (The National Association of Probation Officers, 7s. 6d.) has been compiled as a handbook for Probation Officers and for those interested in judicial procedure, it will be of great interest to all members of the public who wish to understand the principles of probation as applied both to adult and child delinquents. To mention the headings of only a few chapters : " Birth and Growth of the Probation Idea." " Law and Administration," " Use of Probation and its Results," " The Probation Officer," " After-Care and other Social Work," will prove that the ground covered is both wide and important. The apology in the concluding chapter that " the scheme of the book makes it almost inevitable that it should contain a certain amount of repetition," is quite unnecessary. So large and important a change in the adminis- tration of Justice as that which lies between committing an offender to prison and putting him or her on probation needs the constant repetition of its underlying principles to carry the mind of the uninformed enquirer on from one section to another. The chapter on Probation Officers, with the stress that is given to the necessity of including a study of psychology in their training, is extremely important. Without this training it will be found impossible to raise the probationer successfully to a higher standard of behaviour. It is essential for the Probation Officer to be able to appreciate the motives which underlie behaviour and to realize that " there are unconscious motives as well as conscious ones " which affect their own
conduct as well as that of those whom they are trying to -help. The whole handbook seems a necessary equipment for mem- bers of Probation Committees and Justices on the Panel of Juvenile Courts. It is edited by Mrs. Le. Mesurier, and published by the National Association of Probation Officers, and the thoroughness with which it has been drawn up is thereby guaranteed.
Previous page
