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This article attempts to consider the probation officer as an After-Case worker in England. An After-Case worker is in charge of persons released conditionally or unconditionally from a sentence of imprisonment, or from one or other form of institutional training. Probation work as such is by now a well recognized form of penal treatment, but the probation officer's duties in the field of After-Care have perhaps as yet, not obtained the recognition due to them. It is important that the value of After-Care Case-Work should be recognized by the administrative authorities responsible for the assessment of case-loads, i.e. in England, the Probation Committees that are responsible for administering the service on a local basis in the various Probation Areas, since one feels that there have been occasions when the inadequate recognition of the probation officer's functions and duties as an After-Care Agent has led to this aspect of his work sometimes being regarded as an after-thought. The history of After-Care in England can only be examined in relation to other developments in the penal system and is too complex a study to enter into here. It is only necessary at this point to emphasize that the rehabilitation of the discharged prisoner is a matter of much concern to the general public, as we have found it necessary to punish for infringements of our moral code as expressed in terms of the law.

The publication of the Law Commission's Consultation Paper and final proposals for the reform of homicide legislation has prompted the author to review some clinical and legal aspects of homicidal behaviour. It is suggested that the complexities of this behaviour are not well served under current legal provisions.