JOHN AUGUSTUS AND EARLY PROBATION Research Paper

JOHN AUGUSTUS AND EARLY PROBATION - Research Paper Example It is the term that could be applied to the action of John Augustus when, in 1852, he bailed out an offender who was convicted for a conduct of misdemeanor. Howard Abadinsky (2009) narrated that he successfully proved before the Court that an offender has a chance to be rehabilitated and to become a good member of the society once again. In his first experience, Augustus saw in the offender the promise of behavior change. He also introduced investigation, which he carried out before he handled a case. Some features of his investigation process remained to be a part of the modern probation process. Augustus investigated the character, the age and influence of people he helped because he will be their guardian during the probation period. He also kept records of each offender which he surrendered to the court when probation period was over. This helped the judge to pass on a final decision. Maurice Vanstone (2009) discussed in his book that John Augustus was the first man to volunteer to become a probation officer, although at that time, probation was not yet established. His humanitarian motives could not be doubted because he worked for free. Although friends assisted him and donations poured in, his business as a shoemaker was eventually affected. He was not a lawyer, but he believed on the purpose of the law, that is for him is to â€Å"reform criminals, and to prevent crime, and not to punish maliciously, or from spirit of revenge†. His first focus was on drunkards but later on moved to other cases. He handled 2,000 cases of men, women, young and adult alike, with only 10 persons who jumped out of probation in all of his life. His crusade was not completely hassle-free because prosecutors, clerks of courts and policemen did not agree with him, since these men received a fee for cases disposed of by the Court. Thus, we see here professional jealousy, or corruption,