PROBATION SYSTEM

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 114, 6 January 1932, Page 7

PROBATION SYSTEM

ANNUAL REPORT DIRECTOR STATES METHODS HAYING GOOD | , EFFECT. . • UNDERLYING IDEA. "To heal without scarrlng is the perfection of moral economy." In these words Mr. B. L. Dallard, Chief Probation Officer, sums up in his annual report the ideal governing the administration of the probation system for criminal olfenders, and in doing so he expresses the firm conviction that the present-day deterrent and reformative treatment of offenders is having a good effect in dealing With those who would otherwise learn no lesson from their punishment. Mr. Dallard says that the reports of probation officers throughout the country show that the clemency extended to offenders has been fully j justified. In the majority of cases i those admitted to probation have com- j plied with the conditions laid down j by the eourts. A total of 1835 cases j was dealt with during the year, and j of this number only 147, or a little over 8 per cent. failed to carry out their obligations. "During times of industrial depression the difRculty of fulfilling conditions in respect of making reparation and paying costs presses more heavily upon probationers than in norpaal times, yet notwithstanding this handicap a total sum of £3812, representing restitution-moneys and costs of prosecution, was -collected from probationers during the year." Mr. Dallard says. "The aggregate amount collected since the inception of the seheme is £49,816. The grea'ter portion of this represents reparation to victims of offences. This is a positive feature of probation, as compared with incarceration, whereby the victim receives nothing and the offender becomes a charge upon the community. Satisfactory Results.

"The satisfactory results of the past year's operations, despite the particulai'ly adverse conditions that have prevailed, are due in a very considerahle degree to the splendid assistance given to probation officers by a well-organised body of voluntary helpers. The advantage of having the active co-operation of voluntary committees to assist probation officers to place probationers in employment. Every probation officer has expressed his deep sense of indebtedness to these voluntary helpers." The total number admitted to probation during the year was 812. The increase was in conformity with the general increase in crime, and did not mean that a much greater proportion of offenders was admitted to probation. Statistics showed that the courts in.New Zealand were inclined to shov/ a greater reserve in admitting offenders to probation than in England, where in recent years it had been used much more freely than in the past. "Probation at one time was generally regarded as being equivalent to letting the offender off — a gesture of clemency by a court to a first offender — but in recent years there has been a greater realisation of the deeper significance of probation, and this system of treatment of offenders as an alternative to imprisonment has been nsed with success to a greater extent than in past years in nearly all countries. The underlying idea is that if, judged by the eharacter of the offender and the nature of the offenee, the deterrent effect is not seriously abated, and the safety of society not jeopardised, it is both cheaper and more satisfactory to give an offender conditional liberty on probation than to place him in an institution, where he will be a burden upon the State. "The main object of probation is the reinstating of the offender as a good member of society, and experier.ee shows that, in appropriate cases, this can he accomplished more effectively under careful supervision in the community than in the artificial atmosphere of an institution. Apart from the unavoidable risks of contamination, the severance of economic and social ties makes rehabilitation more difficult. To heal without scarring is the perfection of moral economy."