Probation Officers and Parole Officers - Essay Example

Introduction Probation is when an offender is given a supervisory status rather than incarceration, while parole is an early release from prison with any request for action and violation of report action going directly to the releasing authority. Early release is brought by good conduct of behavior when one is in the prisons (Harr and Hess, 64). Parole and probation officers’ goals are to protect the public. They have the duty of assisting ex-offenders to adjust to life outside jail as well as that of preventing them from repeating crimes or engaging in future crimes acts. They work towards making sure that they have made the law offenders to live productive and useful lives. Depending on the legal status, the law offender may be on parole or probation. Law offenders who are given probationary sentence might or might not have served jail term in the county jail. Once the offender is released, they are put on parole or probation depending on the record of their offence. Those that have served time in federal or state correctional facility are placed on parole when they are released. Conditions are given to both types of offenders when they are released and a parole or probation officer supervises them for a specified period of time (California Occupational Guide, 1). Probation officers are also known as community supervisors in some states as they supervise people on probation. Practically a probation officer supervises those convicted of violent crimes because probation is granted to those with substantial drug abuse history and criminal background (Banks, 165). Probation officers also offer training that includes rational behavior training – it focuses on the officers using rationality principles to persuade a probationer to change his/her attitudes and beliefs. The training influences hostile offenders to develop new behavior and beliefs, which probation officers reinforce. Parole officers usually perform the same duties as probation officers, the only difference being that while parole officers supervise the offenders who have been released from prison, probation officers wok with the offenders in the prison (Labor Dept (U S) Bureau of Labor Statistics, 238). Parole officers are usually in the unit of the youth authority, corrections and the federal department of justice accounts directly to their particular parole boards and their main task is supervising their clients. Before the discharge of an offender, parole officers prepare arrangement and recommendation for their client. Parole officers approve such services as housing, counseling, social activities, employment and education (California Occupational Guide, 3). On the other hand, probation officers are usually at the courts and they execute pre-sentence investigations and organize reports on their clients. They also aid their clients to go back to the free society. They also implement courts order, which may incorporate them to seize evidence, organize for drug testing, make arrests and carry out searches. Parole officers focus their effort on surveillance rather than rehabilitation though their systems are scarce. In urban areas, parole agents are commonly occupied in verifying curfews, drug testing and electric monitoring. Most parolees do not complete their parole supervision and they therefore end up going back to prisons, making the prisons full. The role of parole officers is to have all the legal authority carried out and to use firearms to search without constraint of the forth amendment, order arrest without probable cause and confine without bail (Banks, 165). According to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), when the probation and the parole officers are running in jail and prisons, they supervise the improvement of the inmates. They may assess the inmates by means of psychological and questionnaires tests. They work directly with other agencies or officers to develop release and parole plans. Their report discusses the record of the inmate and the probability of the inmate committing another crime. This report is then presented to the parole board to show whether their clients are ready for release. Further, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that the number of cases that a probation officer handles at one time depends on the need and the risk that the offender poses. Offenders who pose elevated risks and those who need more counseling use most of the officer’s time and resources. Officers may hold from 20 to 100 dynamic cases at one time (5&6). Labor Dept (U S) Bureau of Labor Statistics documents that parole and probation officers usually seek assistance from the neighborhood groups, local residence and religious institutions in monitoring the behavior of the offenders. While monitoring the whereabouts of the offenders, probation officers are required to wear an electronic device. Sometimes parole and the probation officers may arrange for the offenders to get job training or rehabilitation of substance abuse (238). Harr and Hess indicate that probation officers may change through out the year and every day. It is never the same and wide varieties of skills are required. Probation officers must know how to treat the people with respect and at the same time, they should be careful that they are not taken advantage of. Constitutional as well as state and federal law is required and one should be conversant with the procedures and the policies within the organization for which one is working. The officers have to learn to how to develop professional relationship with the police and the judges and know how to appear in the court (65). Probation and parole officers monitor and counsel offenders in addition to evaluating their progress in order to determine whether they are abiding by what the court expects of them and whether eventually they will be released from the supervision. According to Harr and Hess, the work of parole and probation officers will find them meeting with offenders within the premises of prisons and jails though their work is considered as community corrections as opposed to institutional corrections. Parole officers’ role is much more emphasized than that of the probation officers. This is so because parolees are perceived to be more of a threat to the community. Paroled offenders are usually older and have longer criminal record and so, the relationship between the client and the supervisor is different. Parolees face different problems with probationers. Numerous prisoners are coming to our community each year and this has led to a drastic increase in the number of the incarcerated during the 1980s. Although the use of parole decreases, the sheer number of those eligible for parole will be swelling (Pollock, 453). It is important to note that parole and probation officers’ job of supervision is centered around people rather than on information and data. Satisfaction is achievable in dealing with people and reward when officers can influence the lives of their clients. Documentation in criminal justice is an important part of taking responsibility legally for the supervision of another person. Officers take a lot of time documenting everything of every customer they supervise and they may see this as excessive load work. Officers feel that there is not enough time to spend in doing the paper work with the number of people under his/her supervision (Alarid, Cromwell & Del Carme, 102). According to Labor Dept (U S) Bureau of Labor Statistics, these officers work with criminal offenders some of whom are very dangerous. The officers may interact with the offenders’ friends and families or even clients who may be angry, difficult to work with and upset in the time of supervision. These officers also work in an environment where there is high rate of crime, violence or even communicable diseases. Additionally, these officers are required to meet court deadlines, which have heavy caseloads. The officers are required to travel and are needed to meet with the offenders who are in probation or parole. Sometime they are required to carry firearms or other weapons for protection. Again, it may be required of them to collect the offender’s urine samples for drug testing. All these factors make the environment of work stressful, but this work may be rewarding. Many officers get personal satisfaction from educating members of their community and helping them become productive people (239). Pollock also notes that parole and probation officers are met with dilemmas as they supervise offenders. For example, the offenders in most cases acquire jobs without the proper knowledge of the employees about their previous criminality. It is therefore the duties of the officer are to inform the employee so that they can make a decision concerning the employee. Another dilemma that an officer may face is not to disclose the offender’s information, for instance, if the parole or probation officer knows that an offender is HIV-positive and he/she starts an intimate relationship with someone, the officer is no way supposed to reveal the truth. Favoritism and confidentiality are issues that come up most of the time. This is because probation and parole officers are likely to have family connections and acquaintances with those on their caseloads (451). One of the ways of minimizing stress for parole and probation officers is by knowing the general limits of the law regarding inactions and actions on the job. Officers should keep track of the people they supervise and make it a principle to minimize risks. This also helps in responding appropriately to inappropriate behavior. The parolee or the probationer may however hurt people in the public no matter how organized and accomplished the officers are (Alarid, Cromwell & Del Carme, 104). Probation and parole officers become ineffective when they are frustrated and when they receive low wages, considering their heavy workload. Sometimes they may feel that their positions are contradictory, ambiguous and politically vulnerable. Though these issues are almost in every organization, disillusionment is inevitable. Worthy to note is the fact that problem comes in especially when there is a great deal of emotional investment in the profession (Pollock, 450). According to Alarid and his co-authors, there are private probation entities that are involved in supervision of the offenders since the1800s. Such entities include Salvation Army, which has a long history of providing such services. Because of increasing number of probationers and the number of available staff to supervise them, states are considering to contract private probation agencies to assist in the supervision. Privatization critics say that effective correctional services seem to be odd since the companies just want to make profit. Private probation is seen as competing and intruding with the government traditional and the purpose of conducting punishment in a fair manner. They have no uniform method of monitoring probation conditions or make sure that victim restitution is correct (106). Conclusion As Banks notes, today, the police rely much on the probation and parole officers to give them information about probationers and parolees including their places of residence, behavior, living situation and in turn, the police protect these officers when there is high risk involved. It is important to note that probation and parole officers must be understanding, empathetic and objectives enough to help offenders who have broken the law to become sober again. They must also terminate or revoke clients who do not follow the laid condition during their supervision. Officers must learn how to manage their time because sometime they are required in the field. Officers supervising offenders often ignore the basic principles of modification of behavior, giving reward to positive behavior and discouraging a repeat of the same mistake. Works Cited Alarid, Leanne F., Cromwell, Paul F. & Del Carmen, Rolando V. Community-Based Corrections. United States: Cengage Learning. 2007. Print. Banks, Cyndi. Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE. 2004. Print. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists. 2009. Web. California Occupational Guide Number 192. Probation Officers and Parole Agents. 1998. Web. Harr, Scott J. & Hess, Karen M. Careers in Criminal Justice and Related Fields: From Internship to Promotion. United States: Cengage Learning. 2009. Print. Labor Dept (U S) Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook 2008-2009 (Hardcover). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. 2008. Print. Pollock, Joycelyn M. Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice: Ethics in Crime and Justice. United States: Cengage Learning. 2008. Print. Read More