CRIME, COURTS AND PROBATION

A straightforward account looks into the history of crime and punishment as punishment changed from retaliation to rehabilitation and goes on to explain the work presently done in terms of probation. John Augustus of Massachusetts was America's first pioneer in the field of probation, becoming a volunteer one-man bailer and friend to charged law-breakers. The authors tell of the difficulties encountered in setting up probation in the courts, as it was dogged by Attorney General Gregory and the Volstead Act supporters (who felt it might be an out for drinkers), but in 1924 it became legal. Working methods include diagnosis and case work; the national organization is now incorporated with that of the parole officers. Louis Goldstein, presiding Judge of the Kings County Court in Brooklyn, writes the final chapter, telling of his six probationers who became assets to their communities in terms of skill and income and adjustment within two years of their probation. It pays.