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on the adequacy of the law in relation to crimes of violence committed by young persons. The report of the working party has now been published and maintains that Hong Kong's legislation already affords the courts wide powers for dealing with crimes of violence by young offenders. It advocated several specific improvements including the pro- vision of more institutional facilities and the automatic consideration by the courts of probation officers' reports on all offenders under the age of 21 who have committed offences which carry the penalty of im- prisonment. These and other recommendations are now being pursued in official circles. A committee was also appointed by the Governor in July to examine the law and practice relating to corporal punishment and to advise whether changes should be made. The Principal Probation Officer was a member of this committee, whose report was published shortly after the end of the financial year under review.

29 Every study of these problems in the round has its appendix of statistics, and these reports were no exception. However there are no substitutes for scientific analysis and logical deduction. Probation officers like many others inside and outside the field of social work are aware of the symptoms of social disturbance that are evident among their clients and among young people generally; but as yet common impressions as to the extent of delinquency and its underlying causes have not been tested by scientific research. Private research bodies have not been able to tackle the facts of delinquency in Hong Kong, and the newly founded social research units of the Chinese University and the Hong Kong Council of Social Service are cutting their teeth on other projects. Nor can government officers easily spare sufficient time from attention to routine and to the needs of the individuals who look to them for help. One would hope that when such analysis becomes possible it will reveal a rather less disturbing and sensational view of the situation than is commonly assumed.

30 This chapter describes how those social welfare officers whose responsibilities are to look after such people as the courts refer to them make use of probation, institutional care and aftercare and of the voluntary facilities which are ancillary to both the preventive work and the aftercare. Casework is tiring and demanding. The progressive in- creases in recent years in the number of offenders entrusted by the Courts to probation or institutional supervision are a burden which must be carried. As officers of the court probation officers cannot refuse a case. The dangers of large turnovers, small benefits and quick returns are obvious. The Probation Section is probably the part of the depart-

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