ABSTRACT
Although probation’s place of birth is still in dispute, almost all scholars agree that its ideological roots are in the Christian religion. In its early days, the probation officer used to be a man of God, ‘a man with experience and tact and full of the milk of human kindness’ (Jarvis, 1972:8). Consequently, the missionary had to have faith and treat individuals as holders of the ‘divine spark’. Moral characteristics of the probation officer were more important than his skills. However, compassion, acceptance, empathy and so on were often mentioned as important ‘tools’ of craft. One way or another, these ‘tools’ are still found in the professional monographs sometimes under different umbrellas or different names. This chapter argues that, despite its current secular ideology, probation activity is still animated by strong Christian values and beliefs such as forgiveness, compassion, acceptance and so on. It is argued that these values have metamorphosed into different principles and standards of practice but retained their core messages that place the individual and his uniqueness in the centre of attention.
