ABSTRACT
Evidence that informal probation has been an adaptation to significant ecological, social, and cultural differences between counties lies in the nature of the association between the extent of its use and the population of the county, an association that persisted up through 1960, the eve of the revision of the juvenile court law. The California juvenile court evolved from informal justice based on humanitarianism and primary group values to a kind of informal justice dictated by ecological factors, administrative considerations, and specialized group interaction. In a probation survey, two thirds of thirty-six responding judges stated that they held such hearings, in which ordinarily the only person present was the probation officer. Legislation does not automatically provide effective remedies for deficiencies of judicial review and administrative overgrowth in the law. Revolutionary legislation takes root in an opinion process, which, beginning with crisis, becomes focused, controlled, and geared to the realities of power.
