Probation Training: Evidence from Newly Qualified Officers

Abstract

The Diploma in Probation Studies replaced the Diploma in Social Work as the qualification for probation officers in England and Wales in 1997. It had a controversial beginning, coming as it did after a lengthy struggle involving practitioners, employers and academics, who united in their opposition to the removal of probation from social work training. The fear was that the proposed new training would be too rigid, too functionalist, and too narrow in its focus to produce critical thinkers who would engage in thoughtful and anti‐oppressive probation practice. This paper reports a small qualitative study into the views of a group of 15 newly qualified probation officers from the first three cohorts to qualify about their experiences of this form of training. It finds that they felt they had a very heavy workload, with pressure points at certain times, and would have welcomed the work being more evenly spread. Some respondents struggled with what they saw as the very different requirements of academic work and the NVQ, but most felt that on this programme the NVQ had helped them to become reflective about their practice. They are positive about being well equipped for their jobs in today's probation service, but would welcome more support in their first period of practice after qualifying, to facilitate the continued development of their learning.