Due to my deep interest in becoming a probation officer I have chosen to examine probation officer's roles which have been stated by the government, and the roles that are actually used to socialise the offender. I am very interested in getting to know the role and the process of supervised resocialisation, and in what ways the officer helps the offender.
First of all, the aim of my research is to get to know the probation officer’s tasks entrusted by the court. The other aim of my research is to examine whether those tasks can be actually performed when a probation officer supervised the offender.
The work is based on empirical evidence. The goals and objectives of my work will be found by taking my own individual methods with help from officers who deal with adults and juvenile offenders.
The research consists of 3 chapters. The first chapter deals with the definition of probation
officer, their roles, function and tasks they undertake. The methods of how they work have also been mentioned, as well as their obligations and qualifications.
The second chapter consists of methodology. The subject and aims of the study are presented and investigated. I have formulated the research question, and described the methods, techniques and research tools that a probation officer uses on a daily basis.
In the last chapter I presented the interview data derived from the interviewees.
Chapter I
LITERATURE REVIEW
1.The role and function of probation officers from legal perspective (House of Commons Justice Committee, 2010).
In the initial part of my research study I would like to define a probation officer in the respect to the literature.
According to the definition proposed by The Council of Legal Education, a probation officer is an officer appointed by the court to investigate, report on, and supervise the conduct of convicted offenders on probation. First introduced Probation of Offenders Act 1907 provided for the statutory foundation of the probation service and enabled Magistrates' Courts to appoint probation officers who were paid by the local authority. Probation officers' duty is to 'advise, assist and befriend offenders under their supervision. The probation officer provide help, but because it's a supervision, it is also a controlling role, as the offender needs to report to them and receive visits from them.
The roles and functions of probation service
The service plays significant roles in the society, which are equally essential to humanity. The role of the probation service is:
(a) to give valuation and advice to the court. The service provides reliable, unbiased and professional advice to the court. The kind of advice assumed to the court of law is important since there is administration of justice at last when a judge is made. This is as a result of impartiality in the piece of advice to the court. The offender can therefore be convinced with the court’s ruling after facing a fair hearing. This helps in upholding the higher standards of justice which is favourable to all. Therefore, peace is maintained amongst the citizens.
(b) to offer management to the offender during the probation periods (Bourgon, G., et al., 2010). This is by supervising the community licences and orders, keeping contact with the offender whenever there is need to and checking on the behaviour of the probationer periodically. The management therefore assists in the probation service since the offender is on watch hence contributing much in the change of routine that may lead to criminal act.
(c) to manage risk of the offenders from committing another crime that may cost them of reconviction (Burnett, R., & McNeill, F., 2005). The probation service has established aa institution called Offender Assessment System which is a nationwide body that deals with the needs and risks of an offender. The risks may be the chances that can lead a probationer to being recharged in the court of law. The risks can be for instance, posing harm to the public, and other factors that are crime related like low level of education, substance abuse and unemployment. These factors contribute highly in the like livelihood of individuals since when they are exposed to, may influence their way of living greatly. For instance, poor educational background may lead to unemployment since every job needs skills. Moreover, when unemployment exists in the society, it endangers the nation since there will be rise in crime rates due to the fact that there is idleness that dwells within the society. Therefore, the probation service intervenes in managing such risks by keeping watch on the offenders by trying to find a way of helping them in such situations.
(d) to keep watch on a particular group of probationers. Since majority of those committing crimes are men, the probation service can decide to basically supervise such group in order to reduce their chances of being reconvicted. Furthermore, women can also be vulnerable to the cases of reoffending during the probation period. Consequently, probation areas are established for women as well to assist in provision of holistic help and keep watch on the female offenders. This is because women tend to face great challenges when supervision that primarily emphases on risk management, they therefore need guidance and support from the probation service. Thus, it is essential to relate with the women positively so as to gauge their ability for healthy engagement with supervision.
(e) to change the livelihood of the probationer. As a matter of fact, unemployment has been an issue in the society, hence leading to involvement in criminal activities like theft cases, murder and so on. These consequently might have been some of the factors that facilitated an individual’s trial in the court of law. The probation service therefore intervenes by creating employment opportunities to the offender so as to reduce the chances of reconviction of the probationer (Hollin, C., et al., 2004). Subsequently, the act of the probation service changes the living standards of the offender for the reason that the probationer is at later committed to some activities that contributes positively to his livelihood. The engrossment in an employment as a result keeps the offender busy hence limiting the chances of indulging in crime that may lead to conviction.
(f) to provide rehabilitation service to the victims of offence (Farrall, S., 2013). The probation service has played a significant role in the restoration of the well being of the society by going an extra-mile of establishing rehabilitation centres. In the restoration centres, the offenders are expected to obtain the assistance and direction that they desire to help them change their lives. The probation service has also planned to make changes in the way in which the convicts are released from the prisons by finding a way to empowering them at the very moment they get out of jail. This can be possible when some trained personnel are availed to them, so as to be at their service by providing care and direction for each step they make on the way to law-abiding life. The move made by the probation service is vital to the lives of the victims of offence since they experience change at last after undergoing through the reintegration process. The restoration of the offenders also has robust impact to the community as well since criminal activities are reduced in the social order. At last, there is rebuilding of peace in the humanity hence justice prevails.
(g) to bring back justice to the community. The probation service offers chance to the offender to realize the unintended injuries caused by the offences committed. Therefore, the reprobate can get to realize the purpose for the limits of communal acceptance. Furthermore, the offender is given a proactive and prolific means to reconcile with the past. Consequently, the lawbreaker gets the potentiality to progress the offender’s legality. Nevertheless, offenders’ services can be a marvellous reserve to both non-profitable and constitutional organizations. Moreover, the intelligence given to the court by the offenders’ service has a great deal in the provision of justice to the victim. The guidance given to reprobate during probation period helps much in their lives since they get to learn about the rule of law.
2. Methods and techniques in probation service
These are the ways of approach that the probation service undertakes in order to achieve the objectives of the service. Some of these methods can be;
(a) providing better treatment to the victims involved (Walton, J. S., et al., 2017). The method consists of the levels and what it entails. There is difference in the stages of treatment depending on some factors that must be considered. An offender who is day reporting may require a different way of handling compared to the one who is residential. This therefore, the institution finds a way of approaching such incidence so as to succeed in the process changing the lives of offenders.to begin with, the treatment service availed to the persons under the probation service involve the provision of basic needs. This is vital in the lives offenders since most of them happen to be out of prison when they own nothing, consequently, making it difficult to cope with life after being victim of prison.
Moreover, the offenders are given employment opportunity and professional training (Hamilton, I. S., Schneider, J., Kane, E., & Jordan, M., 2015). The services are very important to the reprobates so as to turn around their lives since unemployment can consequently lead to their exposure criminal activities hence resulting in the recharge in the court of law. The employment opportunity offered to offenders therefore, assists them in changing their lives by excepting the crimes robbery that they might have been involved in, so as to earn a living. The chances of them indulging in misconduct are therefore reduced, hence helps in justice restoration.
Furthermore, the institution is committed to relapse anticipation. The treatment encompasses essential ways of preventing offenders who might have been alcoholic from resuming their drinking habits. This serves to a big deal in health restoration to the addicts hence saving their lives.
In addition, rehabilitation and reconciliation with the family members of the offenders is also a reasonable handling. For instance, some offenders may lose trust from their beloved ones after involvement in crime. Reconciliation is then important to be taken into consideration since the lives of the lawbreakers can possibly change only if there is proper understanding amongst the parties involved in the process. The family members play a very vital role in the rehabilitation program because when neglected, the lives of the offenders can possibly take an extremely wrong direction. Therefore, family support is needed since improper way of approach may cause some psychological interruptions. When such incidence happens, it may not be easy to help the situation. The social support from those that the offenders have blood links with is important because the family members are the ones with the history of the victims.
Nonetheless, case management is also an imperative aspect that should be considered. The institution has deployed such method so as to assist the probation officer with ease of handling an offender by allowing the officer assigned to keep watch on the activities of the reprobate. The case management constitute of evaluating the offender’s wants and capability of maintaining the state of delinquency and drug-free, keeping contact with the legal officers, providing support to the offenders and so on. With these, the offender is therefore helped to maintain the high standards of the law and reducing the probabilities of reoffending.
(b) providing appraisal and interviews to the offenders. This comprises of involvement of interrogative questions that are aimed at digging deep into the offender’s life history. The information gathered by the officials is of great benefit to the community service since it helps in the probation process.
(c) recruitment of legal officials (Sheldon, K., et al., 2012). There are various criteria that are deployed to help in employing the probation officers needed by the service. For standardization of the probation service, educational qualification is one of the requirements for the job when recruitment is done. The officers selected should be of high intelligence, with higher academic qualifications. The officer must have attained master’s degree in social work or development psychology or juvenile justice and other degree related to legal practice. The requirements are basically considered for the success of the service since the officer should have know-how in the ways of approach to the case management of the offenders. During the probation service, the legal officials are supposed to undergo train in courses like computer systems, legal system and so on.
(d) establishing programs. Some of the agendas that the probation service has come up with are changing the cycle, Special Offender Service Program and so on. The establishment of the programs is aimed at making difference in the ways in which the service handles the offenders’ cases and breaking the norm as well. The newly started programs have been useful in the probation process since the probation officers get to realize some of the challenges that the probationers experience during the probation period. There are also strategies that the community service has identified with so as to improve the relationship of the system. Some the techniques are memorandum of understanding, discretion and sharing of data, database violation and so on.
(e) group work, casework and social work (Irvine, E. E., 2016). These are also some of the ways of dealing offenders. Groupwork is whereby some number of probation officials agree to work together with an aim of achieving the goal of changing the lives of a given number of offenders; Casework is so broadly used in parole and trial supervision that it is well-thought-of as the custom as a service provision plan. It fundamentally shadows the medical prototypical of rectifications in which the managing official, via a one- toon association, analyses the reprobate and frames a treatment approach; whereas, social work is whereby a social worker is deployed in the service. Social workers have the obligation of identifying restoration services that the justice system initially envisioned with as a rehabilitation facility and to provide support to family members affected by offender actions.
3. The responsibilities and rights of the probation service officers.
What the legal officials working under the probation programs are expected to do to the persons under their supervision are the responsibilities while the rights of the probation officers are activities that the officials can commit to, with respect to the laws that controls the service. In case of the violation of rule of law that binds the duties, the officer that falls to be a victim is expected to face the consequences of lawbreaking in the court of law (Clare, R., 2015).
Tasks and roles of youth offending team officers (Morris, R., 2015).
Since the youths are the most vulnerable persons in criminal activities, it is therefore important to put them under watch so as to reduce their chance of reoffending. Consequently, the probation service has established an institution for the youth that is specifically committed in helping them in changing their lives. The youth offending team officials are expected to: provide guidance and counselling programs to the youth offenders since they are young and do not much information about the realities of life; moreover, the officials are expected to offer mentorship program which is aimed at changing their lives and informing them about their purpose to the society and the expectations of the community; finally, providing rehabilitation services to those that have interacted with substance misuse so as to save their health and life as well. These activities are of great deal in changing and restoring of the well-being of the youths in the society hence justice to all.
It is the duty of probation officer (Robinson, G., Burke, L., & Millings, M., 2015):
(a) to supervise the probationers and other persons placed under officers’ supervision. This is to ensure that the offenders maintain the cords and good conducts of citizenship so as to help them in avoiding the wrong side of the law, which may lead them back to court of law.
(b) to advise, befriend and support them. The probation service can as well intervene in the offenders’ life by helping them in their financial situation by assisting them in getting a job to do so as to change their loving standards. This performance of the service is an ideal in helping the probationers to avoid criminal activities since they are always busy doing some job that is essential in their lives.
(c) with a view to assisting the court in determining the most suitable method of dealing with a person's case, to inquire (in accordance with any directions of the court) into, and make reports on, his circumstances or home surroundings. The act can be of great help in providing justice which is important to humanity. Therefore, the offender at last can be glad to have faced fair judgement hence contributing much in perverting crime.
(d) to perform such other duties that may be prescribed like giving a report about the current behaviour of the probationer to the court. The forwarded report can help in identifying whether the offender is having changes and assisting him where possible, so as to avoid activities that may lead him to trouble.
In as much as the officers are committed to their duties, they also have some rights that can as well give them some relief in their obligations. The rights of the probation officers are stipulated within the constitution of the probation service laws and they are therefore they are supposed to operate with the governance of legalities (Denney, D., 2016). For instance, they have the right to be protected by their employer since in certain cases, their lives may be under threat when in duty. They are therefore, armed by their institution. In addition, the probation officers have a right to be given proper services like housing, medical insurance and so on. Nevertheless, the legal officials have the right to be exposed to training that is required in their line of duty.
Chapter II
METHODOLOGY
After I had identified with some of the aspects of the subject of study, I had to leave for the field so as to gather some of the data that presumed to be more accurate from the field since they are from original source and not tampered with. I had to meet some of the former employees of the probation service who must have undergone through the service.
1.Purpose and subject of the study
Some of the reasons as why I had to do research in this discipline as stipulated by Pham Khanh, N., Vo, T., & Son, H. (2016) are: firstly, the probation service is a very important institution in the society since it has helped in numerous ways in the lives of many individuals, for instance, changing the lives of reprobates after their release from prison; moreover, it has also assisted in the restoration of justice in the society; in addition, the probation service has contributed highly in the mentorship of youths since they are seem to be the most vulnerable victims of offence in the community. Therefore, I decided to conduct my study in this subject after realizing how essential it is the society and beyond the communities of the globe.
After making such observations, it really enthused me to explore more into the research work since I had attained interest in becoming a probation officer so as to serve humanity and contribute in the restoration of justice to in the community and nationwide. In addition, I would want to make changes in the criminal justice commission since it is vital achieve a difference that favours all in the society. Moreover, to be of service to the youths by engaging them in the mentorship programs that would inflict changes in the lives since they are vulnerable to criminal acts.
2.Methods and techniques of the research
In my research process, I had to deploy some techniques so as to help me in achieving accurate data from the sources that I had planned to constitute and the individuals that I had to involve.Some of the techniques that I had to deploy as stated by Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017) were:
qualitative research. I ahd to use this method in order to attain accutrate data. It constituted of a series of questions that were quite interactive.
Semi-structured interviewes with four probation officers. I had to achieve that number of interviewees so as to get varied data that I could analyse and come up with correct findings for the research.
Interviews took place in a coffee shop, near where the officers work. I had to be in that venue in order to favour my interviewee since it would have been unethical to conduct an interview away from the place of work while on duty.
3.Research problem.
As stated in a journal of possible challenges that can be faced in a research project written by Khan, H. U., et al., (2016, March). During the process of my research project, I faced a number of challenges since the topic is also a bit involving being that it is for legal practice. One of the problems I encountered during the process was limited time. Since time is also a factor in every activity, I realized a challenge when I had to interfere with some individuals’ schedule since they were in duty.
Moreover, another problem that I experienced was mistrust and criticism. This was a possible challenge since the subtect of discussion is for legal practice which is governed by law. Therefore, some of the officers were unwelcoming.
Furthermore, change in weather in the environment that I had to conduct my study in since most of the facilities that I needed are situated in London. Consequently, I realized the weather change as a challenge since it is Winter period, therefore, it was not easy to carry out the research in such unfavourable weather.
4.The characteristics of the field and group study.
The subject was located in London, Probation Service office located on Great Dover Street. They manage the majority of offenders under probation supervision. They work alongside the National Probation Service, which manages offenders who have been assessed as presenting high risk of harm to others.
The age group was 33-48 years of age. I chose this age group since I had to executute that group for accuracy of data being that they must have served for long in the service and full of experience in the legal practice.
The building office was not big- as I expected. Moving around and finding the people who agreed to participate were not difficult.
5.The management and process of the research.
As a matter of fact, in every research project, there must be certain challenges that a research can possibly face and therefore, for the success of the subject under study, the researcher has to be ready to overcome them and not give up. Consequently, I became a victim of the circumstance when I was conducting my study. Therefore, I had to carry on without surrender after having read from a book written by Nau, D. S., et al., (2015, January).
For the case of time, I had to keep time by doing my activities while having discipline on time, hence I had to be fast but accurate on data collection. This move helped me to cover much. For instance, my initial plan was to interview seven probation officers, but due to their lack of time, I had to change it to four officers as I had difficulties with persuading them to give me some time. Also, catching up with them and fitting into their schedule was quite challenging, as they had to leave an office, therefore, I had to be persuasive.
In the case of mistrust and criticism, I had to be polite and persuasive, until I to show my student identification card so as to convince some of my interviewees that I am a student who is conducting research work for academic excellence. To my critics, I never had to give them a listening ear so they were discouraging me in the topic, though I had to convince them as well and make them realize the importance of the subject under study.
Another challenge that could have barred me from achieving best results for my project is weather change. I had to overcome it by putting on heavy clothing so that I don’t freeze and to enable me to continue with my research.
CHAPTER III
RESULTS
The first probation officer, that I interviewed was a woman – 48 years old, 16 years of experience.
According to legal acts, the main responsibilities of probation officer are assessment and advice to courts, offender management and supervision of community orders and licences, work with victims and restorative justice.
The main responsibility, according to the first probation officer, includes but is not limited to work and support offenders and help them get back in the community. That includes: help with finding an employment, restore and improve family relationship. It is crucial to discipline the offender to perform given instructions and to encourage them to stay away from any form of misconduct.
Above-mentioned duties can be performed in practise on some occasions or in some situations, but not always. Probation officers appreciate when the offenders coorporate with officers and ask them how they can help him. Unfortunately, there are occasions where the offender cannot achieve anything.
The principle role of probation officers is to help them with finding strength and motivation. The supervisor directs the offender and shows him a good direction but cannot change him if he does not engage. The offender chooses what changes he wanted to implement in his life.
The traditional approach to probation and parole supervision has been the casework approach. It applies in ninety percent of cases, as it is the most sensible and functional amongst all other methods. It allows probation officers to acquaint with offenders and with his problems. The casework approach places the offender in a centre of attention, which makes it easier for the probation officer to work with him.
In the process of working with the offender it is possible for probation officer to acquaint himself with the offender's family. However, it some cases it is not necessary. When such a case requires this procedure, then the probation officer applies the casework approach alongside the social work approach.
If the probation officer cannot obtain the information from the offender, that is needed to establish the offender's reasons for his unlawful behaviour, the probation officer then uses other resources. In most cases it is through the conversation with the offender’s families. However, the offenders do not like when probation officer to do that. In most cases the families are located on the suburbs of the city or they have bad backgrounds. Offender's unwillingness is associated with his shame for his misconducts. When the probation officer reaches the offender's family, the relationship in most cases is successful. However, there are cases that the family does not want to cooperate.
The probation officer performs following tasks through this method:
Explain the offender's problems and reasons for his wrongdoing,
Help with solving the problem, which obstruct the offender's progress,
Plan treatment/counseling,
Pomoc materialna,
Motivate and encourage changes in the behaviour.
On the contrary, a groupwork method in most cases is applied to a much younger age group. In a family case this method is more useful, thus groupwork method is not often applied by a probation officer.
A network method is neither very common in the work of a probation officer. Depending on circumstances, a probation officer works with various institutions and other support services. It is social service and police in most cases.
Social work method allows a probation officer to help an offender to overcome his financial problems or to control his criminal behaviour.
The relationship between a probation officer and an offender is often disrupted due to an offender's attitude or doings. For the first interview probation officer it was:
Mental distress, that prevents the probation officer to predict an offender's behaviour,
Treating a probation officer as a representative of an enforcement agency – such views are held by depraved and deviant offenders.
Unwillingness to communicate with a probation officer,
The attitude of looking down on others – non-authoritarian attitude,
Unemployment,
Unwillingnes to combat addiction,
Personality disorder, which makes it difficult for an offender to see consequences of their behaviour.
The main principle of a probation officer is to successfully socialize the offender. The factors that allows for it are: finding an employment, that gives the offender stable income, simultaneously improving his life quality; finding a place of residency, which gives the offender a feeling of safety and confidence; support from a probation officer, and an offender's family, which is the reason to live a better life; and offender's thinking and rationale. Having been incarcerated, the offender had a time to think what he had done and how he wants to live his life.
The duties of probation officers:
Assessment and advice to courts,
carry out risk assessments and reviews on offenders in order to protect the public from further possible offending,
work with prisoners in custody during and after their sentence, and motivate offenders to change their attitudes and behaviour,
carry out risk assessments and reviews on offenders in order to protect the public from further possible offending,
provide specialist reports to prison governors and parole review boards that help determine whether a prisoner should be released and, if so, under what conditions,
protect the public by collaborating effectively with other agencies in the criminal justice system, such as the police, local authorities, courts, health services, substance misuse services, voluntary agencies and youth offending teams,
work with victims of crime to ensure their well-being and to make sure that their voices are heard.
The 2nd probation officer – woman, age 43 with 17 years of experience in probation service.
The main role in probation service is to control imposed obligations to the offender and his behaviour. The role also includes advice to offenders, conversation with them and helping them with solving life problems.
All those tasks can be accomplished, provided that the offender wants to do that, and that he/she cooperates with the probation officer.
Głąwną funkcją sprawowania dozoru jest funkcja wychowawczo-zapobiegawcza. The aim of this function is to advice to the offender on re-settling in the community and to control offender’s-imposed obligations.
Z tą funckją sciśle łączy się funkcja kontrola, that is based on controlling offender's behaviour during the supervision, obey the law and rules, that are advised by the probation officer aim for improvement in offender's behaviour.
The role of a probation officer is to give advices to offenders on how to improve their life and to get them back on the good path. The probation officer gives the offender the phone numbers and addresses of various services that aim to help the offender.
Probation officer 2 in most cases contacts: police, prison service, social care, and therapists.
The tasks that can be carried out by applying this method is to help the offender to effectively use given help and support.
The work of a probation officer can be challenging at times. Ultimately, they may limit the efficacy of the above-mentioned methods. Above these challenges are: addiction that the offender struggles with. Making an offender join the program that tackles addiction is a very difficult job, as they are not always willing to do so. The next challenge that the probation office may face is offender's unemployment, as the lack of money may lead the offender to feeling hopeless and discouraged. All those factors unable the probation officer work effectively with the offender.
Every single work with the offender has its aim – resocialization of the individual.
It comprises of
