Social_Welfare_Annual_Report_1966-1967 — Page 27

other social services (education, housing, health and employment) which affect the incidence of criminal behaviour on the one hand, and the sciences of criminology and penology on the other. They find them- selves called upon to offer advice and critical thoughts not only upon individuals' behaviour and welfare but also on other bodies' attitude to correction.

31. 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. An inter-departmental working party set up in 1964 to advise the Governor- in-Council on the adequacy of the law in relation to crimes of violence committed by young persons found, in fact, that whereas there had been a marked increase in the number of juveniles convicted of violent crimes there was no evidence of any extraordinary upsurge in juvenile crimes of violence in recent years.

32. 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 preventive work and the aftercare. Casework is tiring and demanding. The progressive increases 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- ment with the best prospects for recruits with wide interests and good degrees in general arts subjects who do not possess at the time specific qualifications in social work.

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