The Main Idea for Probation - Essay Example

Probation is a judicial sentence that releases convicted individuals into the community rather than placing them in jail or prison under the surveillance of sorts by Probation Officer. Probation is the paradigm of criminal justice, dating back in the ancient days as of old as 1841. John Augustus a Bostonian was the first probation officer to institute these disciplines as an alternative to incarceration.

Probation/Parole as agency models:

This is a discretionary model whose main goal of probation is to specialize in rehabilitation as well as high surveillance and punishing offenders. Probation oriented towards providing rehabilitation or therapeutic services to nonviolent offenders, a logical targeting of probation resources The punishment component, therefore, is to managed by the law enforcement agencies that already perform surveillance and control (police and sheriffs).

An option is to increase specialization within probation by licensing more private agencies that offer Drug and alcohol treatment, education, and mental health services are also provided through contracts with private providers. Day reporting centers for probation offenders are the cornerstones of local's corrections privatization in California. Day reporting centers might initially supervise low-risk probation offenders who are not sentenced to jail.
They agitate for the imposition of home confinement sanctions, more frequently for pre-sentence surveillance in conjunction with electronic monitoring than as a stand-alone sanction. Electronic monitoring allows for long-distance surveillance of offenders by either passive or active devices. Passive devices operate via radio transmissions in a wrist or ankle bracelet. Active devices use home telephones and computerized random calls to an offender's residence. Electronic monitoring is a component of many house arrest and ISP programs. Offenders may be sentenced directly to electronic monitoring, but some are placed on this sanction when jail crowding occurs, while others are placed on a monitor after violating a previous probation sanction
Probation/Parole as an agency of rehabilitation
In a rehabilitative role, the probation officer serves as a social caseworker, a counselor whose primary concerns are generally in the best interest of the offender. In this role, a probation officer must know how to interview, how to obtain facts about an offender's background, how to identify and distinguish the surface from underlying problems, what community resources exist, and how to make referrals to such resources.
Counseling is required for a variety of offenders including thieves, serious drug offenders, domestic violence offenders, and sex offenders. They are usually given a high-risk assessment status and are monitored closely by counseling staff and specialized probation officers. Who monitor some rehabilitation-related activities such as urinalysis testing, outpatient drug and contracting-out treatment, and residential alcohol treatment
Probation/Parole as advocate agents
With probation inclined towards privation could possibly lead to the probation-related functions. Probation bonds could be required from appropriate offenders. The bonds would be privately guaranteed; with the bonding agency ensuring that a probationer fulfills the terms of probation this would be similar to the current bail system. Public Owned/volunteer-operated Day Reporting Centers
Probation/Parole as law enforcement agents

The main idea for probation was to offer alternative sanction programs that required Parolees judged in need of daily structured regimentation to undergo intensive supervision, including frequent and unannounced contact by probation officers outside a confined jail environment.
In the law enforcement role, however, the probation officer is a control agent, an authoritarian figure, and a threat to the offender's conditional freedom.
The dual role of probation is evident in the classic definition: "Probation strives to protect the community through the rehabilitation of the offender.

Regardless of these conflicting roles, a parole officer is more likely to emphasize surveillance and control functions, holding the protection of the community as a higher priority than rehabilitation. The probation officer is often designated as a peace officer by statute and may carry a weapon, execute warrants, and possess special powers of search and arrest.

In effect, the probation officer serves as the eyes and ears of the court, initiating revocation proceedings for violations of the conditions of probation. For Instance, California, Penal Code Section 833 allows peace officers to conduct searches and arrest offenders who are suspected of violating the terms of probation. Penal Code Section 1203.1 authorizes court-imposed conditions for probation. Such conditions are legal if they are:

• Related to the crime for which the offender was convicted.
• Relate to conduct which is criminal, and prescribe conduct that is reasonably related to future criminality.
• Conditions imposed on an offender granted probation could include unannounced house and personal searches (for weapons, stolen property, drugs or drug testing) and victim restitution.

 Conclusion:

The Parole wallows in a confusion of duties that requires a well-structured framework that would otherwise define the distinct role to be performed by a probation officer for greater achievements in trying to realize sanity in any given society. The quest whether, by some strokes of fate, I had an opportunity to choose to work in any of the above portfolios? In this case, I would exercise my freedom by not picking any.

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