ABSTRACT
Christianity justifies specific attention because it held a distinct position within this process. 'Let then, the crusade is proclaimed against intemperance; the missions be organized for direct aggressive effort on this special form of evil'. Probation was conceived as an idea in the context of what Garland describes as the Victorian Penal Complex but it grew up in the Modern. In as much as Probation, on its journey from individualism to individualization, assimilated science and rationalism it can be seen as a part of the scientific penal project. Experts in the field of psychology multiplied in the 20th century, and probation officers can be included as far as they profess expertise in dealing with offenders. Because the probation service nailed its colours to the mast of psychology, it can be included in this bundle of experts, and ineluctably must be viewed as part of the politics of government: its humanitarian tradition must be placed in this denser undergrowth.
