In the cases of female offenders and of youths under the age of 18 years the probation officer is usually a woman; for adult males, a man acts as officer.
The officers are invested with very considerable authority. It is their duty to keep the very closest watch over their wards and to report continually upon their behaviour. They frequently visit the homes and do their utmost to become acquainted with the conditions of the home and industrial life under which their wards live. The visits are so arranged that they by no means imply an official errand, the officers endeavour to discover the weaknesses of their wards and the temptations to which they are most likely to succumb, and as far as possible to remove them out of the reach of these temptations or to strengthen them against their power. Some officers provide for meetings to be held for those committed to their charge. Especially is this the case with those who have the charge over youthful offenders. At such meetings games, edifying entertainment and instruction are provided. It is also quite competent for an officer to receive the wages of a probationer. In these cases, he will give the man's wife a sufficient sum to meet the ordinary household expenditure, allow him enough for his personal expenses, and retain a small sum to be returned when the period of probation has expired. This course is invariably pursued in the case of drunkards. A drunkard may, upon the authority of the probation officer, be forbidden to enter a public-house or to enter it during certain hours only, and he may also be obliged to remain at home after a certain hour. In fact, the probation officer may make almost any such rules that he thinks best to be observed by his ward, and there is always the threat of being sent to prison to discharge his sentence, if he should refuse to behave properly when under probation.
To have an officer constantly watching over a man may affix a certain stigma to the man, but even so, it is not indelible nor nearly so great as that which the prison leaves behind it. To make this disadvantage as small as possible, the officers wear no uniform and, within their prescribed area, work among the convicted and unconvicted alike.
The type of officer required is not easily found. Of humane instincts, and yet a firm disciplinarian, well educated, competent to give good advice and able to gain the affections and confidences of those amongst whom they work, is the type of person required. The ex-soldier or the ex-policeman is just the man who is NOT wanted. The advantages of this system Miss E. P. Hughes thus sums up:—
Firstly.—Instead of a few highly-paid officials and many badly paid warders, you have a number of independent, well-paid probation officers, chosen for their knowledge of human nature, and their skill in reforming it.
Secondly.—Far greater adjustment of treatment to individual cases.
Thirdly.—The stigma of the prison is avoided, and while great care is taken that the prisoner shall be strictly controlled and effectively restrained, his self-respect is carefully developed.
Fourthly.—The family suffers less. The home is not broken up, the wages still come in, and if the prisoner is a mother and a wife, it is, of course, most important that she should retain her position in the home.
Fifthly.—The prisoner does not "lose his job," nor his mechanical skill, if he is a skilled workman. "I was told that six months in prison will materially damage this in many cases." He does not lose his habit of regular work.
Sixthly.—He has one intelligent friend at his side to give him all the help that a brother man can. And this friend has the unique opportunities for studying his case, and has also an extraordinary power over his environment.