Probation Pros And Cons

Probation has been around for numerous years. Probation is a sentence that the offender is allowed to serve under supervision in the community and the most frequently applied criminal sanction (Cole, 2011, p. 287). Although probation offers many benefits over incarceration, the public often sees it as a “slap on the wrist” for offenders (Public Opinion Strategies, 2010). Probation was first established in the United States when John Augustus, a Boston boot maker, convinced a judge in the Boston Police Court in 1841 to give him custody of a convicted offender for three weeks and then helped the man appear rehabilitated by the time of his sentencing (Cole, 2011, p. 382). The offender went back to court a completely sober man, accompanied by …show more content…
Each state sets their own rules and standards and provides financial support as well as training classes. In the end, the vast majority of probation supervision rests solely on the county itself. According to Cole (2010, p. 383), there is both a positive and negative side to this. With having the offenders under supervision of the courts means that the judge must personally keep tabs on each one of the probationers. This makes it easier for the judge to order the probationer to be incarcerated if they are to violate their terms of probation. The downfall to this is that it puts a strain on the already overwhelmed courts.
Probation officers are very similar to the combination of a police officer and a social worker. They are responsible in assisting the courts in presentence investigations and they also are in charge of their clients, or probationers. Probation officers supervise their clients and help keep them out of trouble to ensure they do not go to jail. In many instances, probationers must check in with their probation officer weekly and sometimes even commit to a drug test to prove they are keeping up their end of the probation