Probation Officers Research Articles

IMPLEMENTATION OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE BY PROBATION AND PAROLE OFFICERS IN INDONESIA

The cases enforcement of children in conflict with the law has shifted from retribution to restorative. This policy transformation was in line with the ratification of Act 11/2012 on the Juvenile Criminal Justice System, which replaced Act 3/1997 on Juvenile Court. This study aims to examine the role of community mentors in Indonesia, both before and after implementing the Juvenile Criminal Justice System Act. This study utilizes a qualitative approach through literature review with primary data originating from legislation, scientific journals, and books then studied systematically and described descriptively. The study results explain that probation and parole officers have a significant role in implementing restorative justice in Indonesia. This role has been proven to reduce the number of child criminals who must end up in prison. This study shows differences in the number of prison sentences for children before and after the enactment of the Juvenile Criminal Justice System Act. Probation and parole officers are at the forefront of implementing restorative justice in Indonesia through their duties and functions

The Role of Community Counselor in Handling Child Clients in Class I Correctional Center of Medan

The existence of laws against children must be considered and must be led to be more responsible for themselves, because children are different from adults. Children are teenagers, human resources, and have the potential to continue the life of the nation and state. The child client is then guided to improve himself and his behavior in the existing reality, with the aim of changing his lifestyle, and assisted in behavioral restructuring, especially for clients with severe personality problems that take a long time to resolve. In other words, probation officers can educate a child client about the rejections they will face when receiving changes or feedback from others, while encouraging them to motivate themselves, accept their situation, and change what the child client is going through. Another important thing that must be done in dealing with child client is to involve the family of the child to participate in the process of handling the child who violates the law.

JUVENILE PROBATION OFFICER PERCEPTIONS OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT IN JUVENILE PROBATION AND WITH CONTINGENCY MANAGEMENT.

Probation is a common sanction for youth substance users, and as such, juvenile probation officers (JPOs) shoulder much of the burden for treatment and rehabilitation. To improve youth outcomes and alleviate some of the burden, JPOs may seek parental involvement in the probation and substance use desistance processes. Using focus group data, we analyzed JPO perceptions of the role parents play in contingency management (CM)-an incentive system designed to produce and reward decreased substance use-and whether they perceived any value in CM. We found that most JPOs perceived parental involvement as critical to the success of both substance use treatment and CM for youth. Our findings also suggest JPOs found parental involvement in CM valuable given that CM was employed on nonstudy clients and future clients. This has implications for the practicality and sustainability of CM as a youth probation intervention.

Utilizing the Probation Office as an Opportunity to Screen for Cardiometabolic Outcomes: A Feasibility Study.

This cross-sectional study examined whether the probation office setting was feasible to screen adults on probation for cardiometabolic risk factors, measure risk profiles, and estimate the prevalence of obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes. During June and August 2019, screening included blood pressure, anthropometrics, total and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and glucose. A survey included demographics, medical history, and current medication. The participation rate was 36% (N = 202). The screening identified 5% had hypercholesterolemia, 38% of men and 50% of women had low HDL cholesterol, 70% had overweight/obesity, 31% of men and 55% of women had elevated waist circumferences, and 26.7% had Stage 1 hypertension. Of individuals with a history of hypertension (n = 74), 77% had elevated blood pressure. Of those with a history of diabetes (n = 27), 22% had hyperglycemia, independent of whether they reported being prescribed medication. The screening identified 11% with Stage 2 hypertension, 27% with Stage 1 hypertension, 22% with elevated blood pressure, and 5% with hyperglycemia. Our findings suggest it is feasible to identify individuals at high risk for cardiometabolic disorders during routine probation office visits. These data can then be used to provide referrals for treatment to improve long-term health outcomes.

Photo Documentation While Brown: Fear and Data Collection in (white male) USA

In late summer of 2018, I embarked on a project that involved analyzing probation and parole offices. The original purpose was to understand how architectural features of these offices keep them hidden from the public. As no such data set existed, I created my own by driving to offices and photographing them. This paper discusses the challenges of conducting this photo documentation project, paying special attention to how concerns of fear and safety impacted the data-generation process. I provide an embodied account of how my personhood relates to a social science research question and offer a methodological intervention on the risks of conducting visual criminological studies. I conclude by discussing the broader implications for qualitative criminological research and the field.

Burnout Among Probation Officers: The Importance of Resilience.

Like many human service professionals, probation officers are subject to a great deal of stress as part of their occupational duties. This study examines occupational stress and burnout among probation officers through the lens of the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model. This model suggests that organizational characteristics have implications for individual outcomes related to stress. However, the model largely neglects the role of individual factors, such as dispositional resilience. This study tests a refined model using cross-sectional surveys from 289 members of a probation officer union in the eastern United States. Results from structural equation modeling support the general predictions of the JD-R model in that job demands and job resources are correlated with burnout and engagement, which in turn predict health issues and intention to quit. Moreover, resilience significantly predicts every latent variable in the model, both directly and indirectly through its effect on intervening factors. Implications for workplace policy and practice are discussed.

Size and attributes of probation officers’ service provider networks: connecting individuals with mental illnesses to community-based supports

This exploratory study examines inter-organizational communication patterns and information sharing between probation officers and service providers when coordinating services for people with mental illnesses on probation. Thirty-four probation officers from one rural (n = 12) and one urban (n = 22) county completed a researcher-administered questionnaire pertaining to the size of probation officers’ service provider networks and the frequency and nature of contacts with those networks. Egocentric network analysis and bivariate inferential statistics were used to examine direct relational ties between each officer and the service providers within their communities. Probation officers in both counties reported high frequency of contact with service providers and indicated that service providers and officers were more likely to share information if reciprocated by their dyad counterpart. Probation agencies may consider enhancing probation officers’ service provider networks and fostering reciprocal and mutually-beneficial relationships to ensure timely access to services for adults with mental illnesses who are on probation.

Opportunity-Reduction Supervision Strategies With Domestic and Family Violence Probationers and Parolees.

Many forms of supervision strategies traditionally utilized by probation and parole officers emphasize service brokerage, case management, and compliance. Conversely, there is a growing evidence-base that demonstrates how community corrections practices can be (and have been) improved through supervision frameworks of behavior change oriented around criminogenic needs. Toward this end, recent advances in penology have applied the tenets of environmental criminology theories to community corrections practices, seeking to identify and modify each individual’s opportunity-based risks for reoffending. In this article, using data from an Australian experimental trial, we explore the utility of an “Environmental Corrections” approach to the supervision of domestic and family violence perpetrators serving probation and parole orders, an offending cohort with growing political and public pressures. Quantitative analyzes indicate that this opportunity-reduction supervision framework was effective in reducing recidivism among all offenders. Amongst probationers and parolees on community corrections orders for domestic and family violence offenses only, rates of reoffending were 15.41% lower for offenders at the treatment site compared to the control site, although this difference was not statistically significant. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with these clients highlights that through the Environmental Corrections trial, they learned strategies for identifying, avoiding, and resisting opportunities to reoffend. Combined, this evidence suggests that opportunity-reduction supervision tactics may hold promise for limiting recidivism amongst domestic and family violence perpetrators, although further research is required.

Modeling “Remorse Bias” in probation narratives: Examining social cognition and judgments of implicit violence during sentencing

AbstractThis research, utilizing semi‐structured interviews with a sample of U.S. probation officers (N = 151) and grounded theory, provides the first‐known empirical study to examine ways in which implicit cognitive processes may influence how probation officers evaluate expressions of remorse by defendants during the sentencing of violent offenses. Particularly, I develop a model by which probation officers exhibit remorse bias toward defendants with characteristics that are stereotypically associated with violence and how such bias can negatively affect officers’ pre‐sentencing reports and sentencing recommendations for such defendants. Data showed that officers exhibit remorse bias by linking certain personal and background characteristics of defendants that “signal” the potential for violence to implicit assumptions that their remorse displays are insincere through two social cognitive processes: fundamental attribution error and issues with out‐group empathy. When probation officers exhibited remorse bias via these social cognitive processes, they described craftingnegative “remorse‐based narratives” in their pre‐sentencing reports that express doubt about the authenticity of defendants’ remorse displays and use such displays to make character assessments that portray defendants as being implicitly violent. Takeaways and implications of the developed model, as well as the need to provide trainings to probation officers on remorse bias, are discussed.

Rethinking Supervised Release Discovery with an Eye Toward Real “Fundamental Fairness”

Supervised release revocation hearings result in the imprisonment of thousands of people per year. But unlike people facing substantive charges, those confronting revocation are not entitled to robust discovery protections. Instead, courts across the country have interpreted the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Morrisey v. Brewer and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.1 to require the defense receive comparatively little and sometimes exclude plainly exculpatory and mitigating evidence from their terms entirely. The core of the problem centers around the fact that the investigating agency in supervised release cases—the U.S. Probation Office—is not considered an agent of the prosecution, but rather an arm of the Court. Federal defense lawyers across the country lament the difficulties that limited discovery production creates in defending against revocation and how fundamentally unfair the process can become without guaranteed access to exculpatory and mitigating evidence. Reform is needed. And as the relatively new supervised-release discovery practices of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina demonstrate, reform is possible.

Food Access, Dietary Intake, and Nutrition Knowledge of Adults on Probation

ObjectiveTo examine food access, dietary intake, and perceptions about diet and associations with health among adults on probation. DesignUsing a mixed-methods approach, interviews were used to understand food access, dietary intake, and diet and associations with health. A survey measured self-assessed diet quality and diet and associations with health. SettingOne probation office in Rhode Island. ParticipantsEnglish-speaking adults on probation in 2016 (n = 22 interviews, n = 304 surveys). Main Outcome Measure(s)Food access, dietary intake, knowledge about diet and health, and perceptions about healthy food. AnalysisWe used a thematic analytic approach to analyze the interviews. Descriptive statistics were performed for the survey. ResultsMany interviewees had inadequate food access, although most participated in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, and some received food from food banks. Interviewees primarily shopped at grocery stores and prepared food at home, and dietary intakes did not meet the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Almost two-thirds (64.2%) of survey participants reported good or fair diet quality. Based on the survey results, the majority of participants strongly agreed and agreed with the statements, “The types of foods I eat affect my health” and “The types of food I eat affect my weight.” Conclusions and ImplicationsThis study identified low-quality dietary intake and food acquisition strategies, such as shopping sales, buying bulk, and going to multiple stores, by US adults on probation to access food with limited resources. Participants reported interest in eating healthier foods and knew there was a connection between dietary intake and health. These data support addressing ways to improve food access and dietary quality, focusing on future programs and policies for this population.

AN EXPLORATION OF BARRIERS TO OFFENDER REINTEGRATION: PROBATION AND PRISON OFFICER OPINIONS VS PUBLIC OPINION

Stigmatization has been a major hindrance to successful reintegration of released offenders into the community primarily due to increased ostracism and anxiety of the wider community relative to recidivism and public security. In addition, the fear of reoffending has been extended to offender employability, housing, and resumption to learning institutions, as well as reconnecting with the community for personal and social growth. Consequently, probation and prison officers initiate different programs geared towards social reintegration to facilitate apposite transitioning of released offenders back to the community. This study, therefore, evaluated the position of the general public and probation and prison officers in driving successful reintegration of offenders by assessing their opinions and perceptions towards social reintegration to isolate barriers to successful social reintegration while reducing recidivism. A mixed-methods research guided by a pragmatist epistemological and ontological paradigm was conducted. In the process, a desktop search was carried out on online data repositories and journal databases to gather secondary quantitative and qualitative data, which was subjected to a systematic review. Following descriptive analysis on secondary quantitative data, and thematic analysis on secondary qualitative data, it was established that probation and prison officers opined the need to blend social reintegration programs with community initiatives, especially those that support offender employment and reemployment. Importantly, it was established that stigma is amplified by the potential of the higher number of released offenders to recidivate negatively affecting public safety and security.

Community Supervision and Employment

Evidence suggests that steady employment is a key component in reducing the likelihood that people under community supervision will return to prison. Largely unexplored, however, is the extent to which employment outcomes and self-perceptions of employability among people under community supervision are affected by stipulations mandated upon release from prison. These stipulations include measures like visits with a probation office, court appearances, or drug and mental health treatments. This article review research on the relationship between the stipulations of community supervision and employment outcomes. It presents evidence from a new study that explores relationships between release stipulations, probation officer support, feelings of employability, and employment outcomes. The new evidence suggests that there is a negative relationship between community supervision and employment outcomes and perceptions of employability. I argue for alternative policies that could productively reshape community supervision.

FOCUS on women: Program evaluation of a pilot probation and primary care transitions clinic collaboration☆

Gender-specific probation programs are needed for rising numbers of women on probation, as women’s paths to probation differ from men’s and are not as frequently addressed. Substance use, mental illness, health disparities, and barriers to treatment can contribute to women clients’ unsuccessful completion of probation. The current study describes a process evaluation of the pilot Female Offenders Can Ultimately Succeed (FOCUS) program, which aimed to meet women probation clients’ complex needs and improve their probation outcomes. Two women FOCUS Probation Officers had smaller-than-typical caseloads of 132 Medium- to Greatest-Risk women clients and received ongoing training in motivational and trauma-specific supervision strategies. To facilitate linkage to all needed treatment and social services, clients were referred to a primary care Transitions Clinic. Comparing non-FOCUS to FOCUS women clients with Violations of Probation, FOCUS clients had more successful completions of probation (higher non-punitive Restorations of Probation and lower punitive Revocations of Probation). At the Transitions Clinic, 52% of FOCUS clients received treatment. FOCUS clients and stakeholders provided narrative feedback reflecting a range of experiences in FOCUS, guiding future program implementation efforts. Promising outcomes from FOCUS demonstrate the potential of theory-based supervision and probation-medical collaboration to facilitate women clients’ success in probation.

Praca z dziećmi zagrożonymi wykluczeniem i demoralizacją w perspektywie symbolicznego interakcjonizmu

Introduction: By creating a framework composed of such concepts as the self, definition of the situation, meaning, joint action, making indications, and social labelling, symbolic interactionism (SI) provides us with a useful conceptual apparatus for understanding human behavior and analyzing the process of criminogeneity. Research Aim: Similar to the way that Howard Becker has discussed the social character of deviations using excerpts of interviews that he carried out with marijuana smokers and jazz musicians, I try to show on the basis of interviews with counsellors how we can use methods of rehabilitation drawing from SI to social work and treatment of at-risk and delinquent youth. Method: These findings were based on data drawn from in-depth interviews (semi-structured) with counsellors from day care treatment centres (sociotherapists). Results: The article presents four methods of rehabilitation and social work with at-risk and delinquent youth, which were generated from collected data and from the theory of SI. Conclusion: Probation officers, social workers, counsellors, street workers, sociotherapists are professions that can use the ideas and methods presented in the article in their professional practice.

Presentence Investigation Reports and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Sentencing

Racial/ethnic disparity in criminal sentencing is a major area of interest in criminal justice research. However, little research has examined the potential importance of the presentence investigation report (PSI) despite its wide-ranging use in criminal justice decision-making from sentencing onward. These reports are typically compiled by a probation officer post-conviction but before sentencing and provide relevant contextual information about offense and offender to aid the sentencing judge’s decision. Using data from the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing (PCS) (2006–2016), we examine the association between PSI completion and racial/ethnic disparities in sentencing. Results suggest that PSI completion is associated with more severe sentencing outcomes overall, but findings regarding racial/ethnic disparities are mixed.

Perceived communication effectiveness in implementation strategies: a measurement scale

BackgroundCommunication-based activities and products (i.e., training programs, webinars) are a critical component of implementation strategies that relay information to various audiences. Audience perceptions of communication effectiveness contribute important insight into the processes and mechanisms through which an implementation effort may succeed or fail. To advance research on this front, a psychometrically sound instrument for measuring perceived communication effectiveness (PCE) is needed.MethodsAn expert panel identified the theoretical foundations and conceptual domains of PCE and drafted preliminary items. Five focus groups of correctional professionals who had recently completed an implementation leadership training reviewed the items and provided feedback for refinement. Revised items were then included in a survey-based evaluation of an ongoing eLearning curriculum designed to improve the practices used by front-line probation officers in supervising individuals in the field. The factorial structure of a final 6-item scale as well as its convergent, divergent, and predictive validity was evaluated using data from the evaluation surveys (Nfollow-up = 358, Nbaseline+follow-up = 159).ResultsConfirmatory factor analysis of the final scale of PCE demonstrated adequate fit. PCE was strongly correlated with measures of implementation outcomes (acceptability, r = .819, p < .001; appropriateness, r = .809, p < .001; and feasibility, r = .754, p < .001), yet uncorrelated with a scale of need to evaluate (r = − .051, p = .422), demonstrating both convergent and divergent validities. The predictive validity of PCE was evidenced by significant associations between PCE and key training outcomes, including perceived staff use of evidence-based practices (β = .230, p < .05), agency climate (β = .261, p < .05), and value concordance (β = .209, p < .05), after controlling for baseline values and other confounders.ConclusionsThe PCE scale is psychometrically sound and can be a useful tool for gauging audience receptivity to and the potential impact of communication-based implementation activities and products.

A Latent Class Analysis of the Antisocial Attitudes Domain of the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory

Antisocial attitudes are a strong predictor of reoffending and frequently incorporated into risk assessment tools, including the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI). However, YLS/CMI Attitudes/Orientation domain items appear to cover different issues—antisocial attitudes and willingness to engage in treatment—which have different implications for case management and service provision. Latent Class Analysis of data from 798 Canadian youth probationers identified four classes based on item endorsement on the Attitudes/Orientation domain: High Overall Attitude Needs (19%), Predominantly Antisocial Attitude Items (20%), Predominantly Lack of Service Engagement (9%), and Low Overall Attitude Needs (52%). Class differences were found on index offense, criminogenic needs, and recidivism, with the High Overall Attitude Needs class presenting as most “negative,” followed by Predominantly Antisocial Attitude Items, Predominantly Lack of Service Engagement, and Low Overall. Understanding attitudes based on this class conceptualization can assist probation officers in targeting services more effectively to justice-involved youth.

Complex complicity: A practice note from a woman of colour on the frontline

I work as a Probation Officer; I have been doing this job for almost 15 years. I work primarily with men and have worked in major cities in England. I am a minority in England, both ethnically and religiously. I am a woman, and my family are migrants from Africa, and their grandparents were indentured labour from India. In all the ways I am different, I also often share histories of migration, of minority experience and of being an outsider with many of those I work with. This is the conversation I have with myself most mornings: Can you consider yourself an activist? I ask myself. Can you call yourself an activist, an anti-racist whilst working within this criminal justice system? Can you continue in this work and not betray yourself, your Muslim-ness, your brown-ness, your working class-ness, your immigrant-ness?

Mental illness-related stigma among probation officers.

Probation officers tend to hold stigmatising attitudes towards individuals on their caseload with mental illnesses. This can result in poor outcomes for justice-involved people with mental illnesses. Though anti-stigma interventions in the general public and among other criminal-legal professionals hold promise, these interventions have not been tested among probation officers. To measure levels of stigma towards mental illnesses among probation officers before and after a brief online training related to mental illness. Two hundred and seventy-five probation and parole officers in one Midwest state completed a three-module online training programme designed to increase knowledge and skills for working with clients with mental illnesses. Officers completed a pre- and post-training assessment of level of stigmatising attitudes towards individuals with mental illnesses. Officer levels of stigma statistically significantly decreased from pre-test (8.22) to post-test (7.37; p<0.001, t=6.13). Nevertheless, pre-training stigma scores were the strongest predictor of stigma levels at post-test (p<0.001, b=0.90). While basic training can significantly decrease mental disorder stigmatising scores for probation officers, the practical effect of this brief online experience was very small. Nevertheless, the fact that such brief and generalised input can have impact at all is encouraging. Implementation could be a useful preliminary to improving the quality of probation supervision of clients with mental illnesses.