ABSTRACT
In face of the growth in the prison population and the ineffectiveness of custodial sentences for many groups of delinquents, the role of probation officers as pioneers in non-custodial alternatives such as community service, day or hostel care and community development directed towards crime prevention, is an expanding one. It follows that a probation order need not necessarily (if it ever was) be regarded as a quasi-compulsory individual treatment order. The probation officers felt that the method helped to clarify the contributions of both clients and workers and led to greater equality between client and helper. Since the objectives were relatively modest they felt less oppressed by the multiplicity of problems and areas they had not been able to affect in their work with clients. The method by which personal help could only be attempted on problems which the clients considered as relevant to their life situations led to a clearer recognition of problems where either control and surveillance.
