The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-03-02
JUVENILE PROBATION.
 ITS USE AND ABUSE

1 Here is where the main chance an6 l the great virtue of juvenile probation comes into view. It is embodied ir | the probation officer. He or she is not appointed to exercise merely ar outward supervision over John Smiths person. The boy is under a suspended sentence, and that does not mean that he is let off, but that the officer is going to~try the application of correc- ClVe measures. He has in the boy a world to conquer for good with great advantages in the offenders age, his uniformed character. the natural win someness of better things. and the ben efits of an attainable worldly success which usually appeals to youth The court has placed the officer in a posi- tfon to work with effect, very likely With more authority than parents have terest perhaps than John has ever known. The fact of life is that an adult friend is what too few youth in any grade of society have, even in their fathers or mothers, and less ire quently in the lower grades-a friend not so adult as to suggest petrified human nature. but sufficiently so to be wise and appreciate those begin nfngs that grew larger as men and women become older. The proba tion officer. starting with the information already secured in Johns case, and Igathering that which is lacking, un- dertaEes without offensive sentiment ality or ,officious paternalism. to guide the boy in his moral develop ment. There may be a habit of evil to be dealt with. instruction to give, or bad associations to be corrected. He will seek the assistance of all al- lied influences in family church or shop. In John Smiths particular case che thing needed was the discipline of work and the eneoura gement of really getting on into a sphere which en- gaged his energies. In this. the pro bation officer helped him. Yet, when all this is said. the real problem is in the il ;t' p9y him himself; The place to begin studied, it's secrets fathomed That is no slight task. It implies personal acquaintance and friendly associations In so far as the officer can meet him his life. it's interests and sports, his success. will be assured.
 Here is another of the abuses of juvenile probation-the excessive de Inand upon the time and energies of the officer He cannot cover thor oughly, or as he knows is best. the field In cities, certainly, juvenile probation should have it's own officer He or she must not only receive stated reports from the probationers, but also devise practical means of keeping in touch with them. It is not enough to discover evil: it must be supplanted by good- No one general officer can provide such remedial measures. The system must have a larger place in the cOmmunity's interest. so that a care fully selected force of volunteers. aft CT some instruction and under experi-
 
 officer. It is easy for the Court to appoint him as Johns Big Brother; but, be he ever so good, some other man may be a better tsbie brother'' in Johns particular case. especially if the officer stands in the same rela- tion to a dozen others. I suggest trained groups of volunteers, or, in large cities. an association of respon- sible persons. for such service. Ap- piled individua1ism is sure to become a large factor in Juvenile probation.
 every case the probationer needs this moral guardianship for a sufficient length of time to insure stability of character. The boy must be kept in the right way until he finds out that it is the best. and has strength to pur- sue it. That involves persistence in followed for years. and now he is respectable citizen. with a good home Of his own. He is only an example among thousands who have been saved under probation treatment.
 There is one factor in juvenile proba- tion which is vital to success and in which abuses of the system are some ment for the frobationer. At the start. this is not usually found to be satisfactory in the home or neighbor- hood of a delinquent. It is often diff ficult to provide and maintain under the conditions which the probation of ficer meets. Evidently the surround ipgs, no less than the individual na- 2 Il To be sure, we can take the boy or girl out of their homes. and commit them to institutions: but the object of juvenile probation is to conduct a re- form without such action, where it is possible, and, it is admitted that the family home furnishes the child's nat ural environment. Thus. too, home are often improved and the responsibilities of parents are enforced out of which many benefits to them arise. Therefore the probation sys- f9T n tiT1o- fJ7n dejiT quent. to create a wholesome environ ment in the childs own home; yet, with all that is done. that home may continue to be unsatisfa ctory, and the query arises, how long should the trial of a delinquent be permitted under such conditions? The tendency of courts. in the immature application of the probation system. is to take risks beyond the limit of wisdom It is easier to allow the child to remain in its own home. especially under the ur- gent pleas of parents, or to return it thither on parole from an institution. Unfit homes thus become the cause of