What the probation officer expects from the psychiatrist

The origins of the probation service can be traced back to the late-Victorian era and the introduction of the so-called police court missionaries who super vised offenders on conditional release from the court. The service grew slowly, but mushroomed in the 1970s and 1980s when several major acts widened the scope of the service by introducing parole, after care of discharged prisoners, community service by offenders, and extended the scope of probation and bail hostels. Since the beginning of this decade the probation service has been working in an everchanging legal and philosophical context. Public protection and the prevention of crime are our primary aims. Legislation and ministerial directives have necessitated increasing involvement of probation offices in work with offenders with mental disorder, and have brought into greater focus the relationship of the probation service with psychiatry. This article attempts to illustrate some of the tensions at the interface of psychiatry and the criminal justice system as experienced by the Inner London Probation Service (ILPS). Both the health service and the probation service are again facing major changes in terms of proposed criminal justice and mental health legislation. The Government's strategies for