ABSTRACT
The changes at the beginning of the 1980s in the form of the Criminal Justice Act 1982 were in part a result of a new government's wish to reduce crime. The bill preceding the act contained many new measures such as curfews and negative requirements as component parts of probation orders. Probation organizations rejected these measures and considered them both unworkable and undesirable. The Probation Service is acknowledged to be a service having its roots in social work, having a social work base. After the Criminal Justice Act 1982, the Home Office issued a paper, "The Statement of National Objectives and Priorities in 1984". This introduced a top-down model for developing priorities and policies for local probation areas. The probation services in England and Wales had to produce objectives so that performance could be monitored against them. Midshire Probation Service is a small area serving both urban and rural populations.
