PROBATION SYSTEM

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12607, 18 November 1926, Page 6

PROBATION SYSTEM

NOT SATISFACTORY NEED FOR REFORM VIEWS OF MR HAWKINS Por Pres* Association. AUCKLAND, November 17. The need for reform in the probation system in New Zealand was stressed yesterday by Mr H. Hawkins, late Controller-General of Prisons and Chief Probation Officer, when giving his views on the present proposed changes in the system. Mr Hawkins said that the proposal to appoint fulltime probation officers in the four centres was not a recent one. There was no doubt that full-time officials were needed. At the present time, providing the probationer reported once a month, little was done to sec how he spent his time. A full-time officer could pay frequent visits to the probationers in their homes to satisfy himself that those released were really complying with the terms of the probation. “SOCIAL WORKERS A MISTAKE” Referring to the proposal to establish committees of social workers, Mr Hawkins was emphatic in declaring that such would be a grievous mistake. “If the greatest care is not exercised in selecting such helper*, the whole system may be easily wrecked,” he said. “No matter how carefully the selection is made, friction is almost certain to arise, and the workers, instead of being a help, will in many cases prove a positive hindrance. “At present the whole probation system of New Zealand is conducted by the Prisons Department. This arrangement is not satisfactory, and there should bo no connection between the two further than what is absolutely necessary. The general opinion of international prisons commissions is that the prisons and probation should not be mixed up. Apart from other reasons, it must be Emitted that the probation work has increased to such an extent as to warrant it being placed on an entirely separate basis.”