PROBATION OFFICER ROLE

Probation Officer Role

Probation Officer Role

Introduction Many people who are convicted of crimes are placed on probation instead of being sent to prison. During probation, offenders must stay out of trouble and meet various other requirements. Probation officers, who also may be referred to as community supervision officers in some States, supervise people who have been placed on probation. Probation officers assist people in making the right choices and implement circumstances of the punishment. Probation officers, in most states also take on the status of the parole officer. Many states believe the two careers have the same sense of duties and combined the two.

Background

As the probation service is a key part of the Criminal Justice System, it is useful to assess how this aspect of the service fits in to the context of the various models of the system. It could be argued that the PSR process leans toward the Medical Model. To make a worthwhile assessment of the role of the probation service in relation to sentencing, consideration must also be given to the context and atmosphere in which the service operates. In recent years the direction of the service and the way it works has been heavily influenced by various criminal justice acts, Home Secretary's and the rigours of modernisation. The probation service comes under the control of the Home Office and the whole way in which the service works in relation to sentencing can change very quickly. Sometimes by a home secretary who may be responding to focused media & public attention (Shaw, R, Haines, K, 1989).

The 1991 Criminal Justice Act was a bold and innovative piece of legislation brought in by a conservative government. It did much to change the way in which the probation service worked, especially in relation to sentencing. It recognised the prison system as negative, ineffective and expensive and introduced a new approach. This was 'punishment in the community' where offenders would receive their 'just desserts' or punishment proportionate to the seriousness of their crime (Harry, 2002).

As sentencing policy at this time was attracting a large amount of negative media and public attention, the legislation was given little time to be effective and was amended. This is a good example of the development of the probation service and how it has had to respond to change. In the 1990's both the government and the opposition used the slogan 'tough on crime'. Michael Howard who at the time was Home secretary used to emphasise that 'prison works'. The probation service had to operate in this atmosphere and was often dismissed as the soft option in a criminal justice system in which only imprisonment was thought to offer any real punishment. To assess the role of the service in the present day it may be pertinent to look at the views of the magistrates (Harr, Scott J., and Karen M. Hess, 2000).

Probation Officer Role

A probation officer may be exposed to dangerous working ...