Keeping People out of Prison

ago. Most Anglo-Saxon countries enacted probation legislation in the latter part of the last century. In many parts of the world, including Australia, probation has been one of the most utilised strategies for keeping people out of prison. Probation legislation in South Australia was first established in 1887. In 1954, South Australia became the second state in Australia to establish an Adult Probation Service staffed by social workers (New South Wales inaugurated an adult probation service on 30 July 1951). During the following twenty-five years, the service expanded as the courts placed more offenders under the supervision of probation officers. However, during the 1980s, probation gradually declined as a sentencing option. This decline may seriously damage the balance between deterrence, punishment and rehabilitation which is crucial for equitable sentencing. Knowledge of incremental changes which have occurred over the past one hundred and fifty years, combined with our understanding of current social problems and needs, should enable us to assess whether probation has outgrown its usefulness or whether we are doing ourselves a disservice by allowing it to decline