Probation can refers as a punishment; a convicted offender is placed and maintained in the

community under the supervision of duly authorized agent of the court. Probation can also
refer to an organization; the probation department manages, supervises and treats the
offenders and carries out the investigations for court.
According to Homer S. Cunnings; "Probation" is a method of discipline and treatment. If
probationers are carefully chosen and the supervisory work is performed with intelligence
and understanding, we can work miracles in rehabilitations.
According to Reinmen, "Probation is a methods of treating the offenders by releasing them
on good behavior upon conditions prescribed by court and under guidance of probation
officer."
A compact definition of Probation can be stated as Probation is a method of treating
(correcting) suitably selected offender by releasing him into the community upon certain
conditions prescribed by the court on conviction, before sentencing (offender) generally upon
supervision of Probation Officer1
The philosophy of probation is one which believes that the average offenders are not actually
dangerous criminals. Advocates of probation suggest that when offenders are institutionalized
instead of being granted community release. Probation involves (a) the withholding of
imprisonment of the convicted offender, (b) conditional release, (c) permission to live in the
community and (d) supervision of an agent of the court. Probation is the sentence in which
the offender rather than being incarcerated is retained in the community under the supervision
of a probation agency and required to abide by certain rules and conditions to avoid
incarceration.
Background of Probation:
Probation as a method of correctional service evolved after the criminologists and legal
jurists thought of means of reformation to criminals by giving them a chance to prove their
worth and not confine them to the prison bars. The word probation is derived from the
Latin word probatus meaning tested or proved. The first Probation officer in this
world is said to be JOHN AUGUSTUS, a Boston Cobbler who is regarded as the Father
of Probation who in 1841 volunteered to assist offenders if the court would release them
to his care. As John Augustus was a cobbler operating in and around the courts of
Boston, he daily used to watch the court proceedings of the criminals and used to wonder
on the alternative methods available for the rectification of criminals other than
imprisonment, a method enabling the criminals to rectify their mistakes and lead a normal
societal life far away from the dark side of criminal world. John Augustus also had the selfbelief that young culprits convicted of criminal offence if sentenced to prison would
make them more strong hard and fast criminals by mixing with other old criminals.
Thus the entire life of these culprits would be ruined if they are made to stay in jails
without giving them a chance to reform themselves or rectify their mistakes. This
thinking led John Augustus to formulate the concept of Probation who later in 1841
appealed to the court to voluntarily assist the offenders and lead them to correctional
methods if the court would release them to his care.

Rajan, V.N.,1995, Victimology in India, 1st edn., Ashish Publishing House, New Delhi,p-14

There are five types of probation:

Straight probation offenders sentenced only for the probation.
Suspended sentence probation judge pronounced for the jail or prison but the
sentences are suspended for the well behavior of the offenders.
Split sentence single sentence divided relatively short term jail and probation
( sentence for 5 years but 6 month in jail)
Shock probation offender initially send to prison but after few days recall to court
and placed on probation.
Residential probation structured probation but open and living environment.
The offender may be released on probation after the suspension of his sentence on the
following two considerations, namely:
1) His case may be considered as really hopeful when judicial leniency is expedient.
2) Probation may be intended to serve a positive role as method of guidance; assistance
and supervision of the probationer so that he may rehabilitate himself for the normal
social life.
As with the probation, the utilitarian aims of treatment and incapacitation have been the
paramount goals of probation
Process and procedure in probation: Probation can be viewed as a process with an
identifiable beginning and end. The process consist three basic stages:
Placement of an offender on the probation.
Supervision and service delivery for the probationer.
Termination of the probation.
The Probation of Offenders Act, 1958
1. Release after admonition
2. Release on entering a bond on probation of good conduct with or without supervision.
3. Persons under 21 years of age are not to be sentenced to imprisonment unless the
court calls for a report from the probation officer.
4. The person released on probation does not suffer a disqualification attached to a
conviction under any other law.
Duties of Probation officers: Staff officers in probation departments are usually charged
with four primary tasks:
Investigation,
Intake,
Diagnosis and
Treatment Supervision.

Function of a probation officer:

Probation officers are the individuals that supervise offenders who have been sentenced to
non custodial sanctions or those released from incarceration. The main purpose of the

probation officer appointed by the court is to help the offender in reforming his character and
rehabilitating him in the society.
David Dressler mentioned four types of techniques in his book 'Practice and Theory of
Probation and Parole'2 These are:
Material aid techniques
If the probation officer thinks that the offender needs the financial help to return to the
normal life and to lead an honest life; he can recommended for financial aid. For example, if
any jobless labor is under the probation system the probation officer can help to get a job in
any mill or establishment if it helps him to lead a normal life and reform his character.
Executive techniques
The offender can be sent to any organization or person or agency of the society who are
related with the system and can help the offender by giving him specific aid, by the probation
officer. For example the offender can be sent to any legal organizer.
Guidance techniques
The probation officer can help the rehabilitating system of the offender by giving him
different types of advice directly or indirectly.
Counseling techniques
The probation officer can help the rehabilitating system of the offender by giving him
different types of advice directly or indirectly.

Parent Management Training:

This scheme attempts to influence child behavior by teaching the parents of better parenting
strategies. Parents of the children with behavioral problems tends to be inconsistent and
punitive in establishing and enforcing rules, which often causes children to use loathing
behavior such as droning to manipulate their environment. Parent management training offers
the parents individual or group training at a school or clinic where they learn how to:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Communicate clear expectations about behavior to their children.

Identify positive and negative behaviors.
Recognize antecedents of problematic behaviors.
Provide positive consequences for positive behavior.
Impose non coercive negative consequences for inappropriate and noncompliant behavior.

Parents are given home works, assignments etc. to practice the skills they are acquiring in the
class and they receives feedback from the therapists. Parent management training programs
also promotes positive, shared family experiences by prescribing joint parent-child
playtime or shared family recreational activities.

Parole
2

Dressler, David: Practice and Theory of Probation, 1959, p, 167

Parole is the other name of Conditional Early Release from Prison or Jail under
supervision, after serving a portion of the sentence that was sanctioned for the offender.
This practice presupposes that the offender has successfully demonstrated conformity to the
rules and regulations of the prison environment and has shown an ability to conform to
societys norms and laws. The facts that parole involves some incarceration suggestion that
the average parolee has committed a more serious crime than the average probationers and
hence, poses a greater risk to the community.
According to Southerland and Cressey, "Parole is the act of releasing or the status of being
released from a penal or reformatory institution in which one has served a part of his
maximum sentence, on conditions of maintaining good behavior and remaining in the
custody and under the guidance of the institution or some other agency approved by the State
until a final discharge is granted".3
The word parole in French means word, and its use in connection with the release of
prisoners was derived from the idea that they were released on their word of honors. The
practice of allowing prisoners to be released from prison before serving the sentence of
imprisonment pronounced by the court goes back at least to 18th-century England. At that
time almost all serious crimes (felonies) were punishable with death, but only a small
proportion of those who were convicted of felonies were actually executed. The majority of
those who were sentenced to death were pardoned by thinking, but their pardon was granted
on the condition that they consent to be transported to one of the colonies where labor was
requiredduring the 17th and 18th centuries this was America and, following American
independence, Australia. Eventually the courts were given power to pronounce sentences of
transportation themselves, usually for a period specified in the sentence, but most sentences
of transportation were modified by executive action. In particular, there developed the system
of ticket of leave, under which a convict detained under a sentence of transportation was
allowed a measure of freedom, or the right to return to England, in return for good behavior.
When the sentence of transportation was abolished in the mid-19th century, the sentence that
replaced it in English law, penal servitude, incorporated the same procedure under a different
name, release on license. The prisoner sentenced to penal servitude could earn his release
from the penitentiary, but not from the shadow of the sentence, by his good behavior in
custody.
As long as there have been prisons, societies have struggled with how best to help prisoners
reintegrate in society when they are released. In the United States, prisoners who have not
maxed out are released to parole supervision. Whether they are released through a
discretionary or mandatory process, the majority of released prisoners will be subject to some
sort of post-prison or parole supervision. Parole is the responsibility of the executive branch
of government. In most states, it is administered by a board or commission appointed by the
governor.
Characteristics of the Parole System:
a) A conditional release from the prison after serving a specific portion of sentence
b) Imposition of certain conditions for behavior
c) Remaining under the control of the officials of prison/correctional institution or
supervision by a parole or a police officer
3

Southerland & Cressey: Principles of Criminology

d) Returning to prison after completing the parole term.

Objective of Parole System:
1) To make the prison inmates eligible for maintaining the continuity with his family life and
to deal with family affairs.
2) To save the inmates form the communal effects of continuous prison life.
3) To make the inmates eligible for the hang on to self-confidence and activating the interest
in life of them.
Parole agents (or officers) are responsible for ensuring that parolees fulfill the terms of their
contracts. Most agents have the legal authority to carry and use firearms and to search places,
persons, and property without a warrant and without probable cause (otherwise required by
the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution). The search power applies to the household
where a parolee is living and the business place where a parolee is working. The ability to
arrest, confine, and, in some cases re-imprison a parolee for violating the conditions of the
parole agreement gives parole agents a great deal of discretionary authority. Parole conditions
can be roughly classified as general, applicable to all parolees, and tailored, applicable to
particular offenders. Standard parole conditions are similar throughout most jurisdictions and
usually include not committing crimes, not carrying a weapon, seeking and maintaining
employment, reporting changes of address, reporting to ones parole agent, and paying
required victim and court restitution costs.

Condition o Parole :
Parole is a conditional liberation the conditions are sometimes fixed by law; sometimes by
parole board and sometimes by any other agency appointed for the purpose. Following are
conditions which may be included in those conditions laid down by the authority concerned.

Leading law abiding life.

Abstaining from intoxicating liquor and drugs.
Keeping free from bad associates.
Spending evening at home.
Refraining from gambling and other vicious habits.
Supporting legal dependents.
Remaining in specific territory.
Not changing residence or employment without permission.
Not marrying without permission.
Not becoming dependent on charity.
Making written of personal reports as required etc.

Release mechanisms
3 ways out --

Discretionary release- release of inmate (to conditional supervision) at the discretion of the
parole board, within boundaries of sentence & law; inmate is subject.
Mandatory release- required release of an inmate (to conditional supervision) at the
expiration of a certain time period, as determined by law or parole guidelines.
Expiration release- release of an offender from custody (no additional supervision); offender
may not be returned to prison for any part of sentence. applies in cases of commutation,
pardon, or end of sentence.

Purpose of Parole:
For individual offenders, the major functions of imprisonment are retribution, removing
dangerous people from the community, rehabilitation, and specific deterrence of future
offending after release. The goals of parole supervision are similar and can be broadly
conceived as service and surveillance: the rehabilitation of releases and facilitation of
their reentry in a community and the deterrence of crime and crime-related behaviors. In this
framework, parole then serves as a sorting function by identifying releases who fail quickly
and returning them to prison in order to protect communities and by making services
available to those who might most benefit from them. Successful reintegration of offenders
protects the communities in which they reside. Thus, the purposes of parole supervision are
more utilitarian, integrative, and rehabilitative than the purposes of incarceration; retribution
recedes into the background.
Police and Parole Supervision:
Parole officers and local police agencies have long had close informal working relationships.
In some jurisdictions the police are routinely notified when a person is released on parole in
their area. Many parole officers regularly scan the arrest logs of police departments to see if
parolees on their caseloads were picked up. Historically, this task was simply defined as
doing the job. More recently, more formalized partnerships between parole and probation
agencies and police departments have sometimes been set up. As a retired chief probation
officer noted (Burrell, 2005, p. 596):
Ironically, line officers have been collaborating for yearswith police officers, drug
counselors, teachers, psychologists, employment specialists and otherswho were also
involved with their clients. The critical difference today is that these partnerships are forged
at a higher level and are more formal.
The Urban Institute recently published an excellent report summarizing several ongoing law
enforcement programs designed to positively affect prisoner reentry (La Vigne et al., 2006).
While parole officers in some agencies may arrest individuals, particularly for noncriminal
violations of specific parole conditions, other officers may elect to have sworn police officers
make such arrests, and some agencies require it. Federal probation and parole officers are, by
policy, directed not to execute warrants.

Conclusion:

However, our correctional program faces various problems so the effectiveness of this
program is so much low. If our governments can overcome these problems then this
population who serves punishment in the prisons the can be the population organization for
our country and they can play a great role for our development programs. Institution cans not
lonely making correction to the offender so each person of the society will be advanced in
making correction of the offenders. The negatives attitudes will be removed to the offenders.
After releasing from the jail we have give them some works on which matter he is able to do
and we have to help them to preventing the stress.

References
Ahuja Ram (1996); Sociological Criminology(India: New age International publications
Limited).
Bohm Robert M. and Haley Keith N.: Introduction to Criminal Justice (fourth edition).
Chakrabarti, Nirmal Kanti,1999, Probation Services in the Administration of Criminal
Justice, 1st edn., Deep & Deep Publication Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi,p-126.
Dressler, David: Practice and Theory of Probation, 1959, p, 167.
Kashem Bin (1996); The International Journal
Paranjapee, N.V. Criminology and Penology, Twelfth Edition. India: Central Law
Publications. 2005.
Probation and Parole." In The Handbook of Crime and Punishment. Edited by M. Tonry. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Rajan, V.N.,1995, Victimology in India, 1st Edition, Ashish Publishing House, New Delhi,p14.