Who is the father of probation

This second of a series of four articles on the evolution of probation traces the volunteer-professional conflict which emerged shortly after probation began.

Probation was begun by a relatively small number of dedicated persons, most of whom were volunteers. In fact, long before probation received the official sanction of law, volunteers served the courts by investigating the backgrounds of defendants and providing informal supervision of offenders. The most prominent volunteer was John Augustus, who is credited with being the 'father of probation.' Not only did he provide direct services to the court and to hundreds of offenders, but he was an effective spokesman for probation. He inspired others, such as John Murray Spear, to carry on the work he had begun in Massachusetts. In other jurisdictions there were also volunteers who performed similar functions and thus advanced the development of probation and its acceptance as an established practice prior to the passage of probation legislation. Some of these volunteers, such as Lucy Flower in Chicago and Samuel Barrows in New York, were influential in having probation legislation enacted in their jurisdictions. After the passage of the legislation, criticism of the volunteers increased. Their inadequate training, supervision, and peer group supports yielded divergent probation practices. Thus, within a few years, the volunteers were replaced by salaried probation officers.