Dealing with Involuntary Clients - Research Paper Example

Dealing with Involuntary Clients Dealing with involuntary clients has never been easy at any time considering the conditions under which they are required to receive the services. The involuntary clients can be described as people who in one way or another have been ‘coerced’ to undertake some sessions with an ultimate aim of changing their behavior. Examples of involuntary clients include drug addicts, who have been compelled through courts of law to seek treatment, parents, who are reportedly abusive to their children and people with psychiatric disorders, who can be dangerous to themselves or the society. These kinds of people receive social services from human service agencies not by their choice but because of being compelled either by the rule of law or by people who are concerned about their welfare. Therefore, most of the involuntary clients may be unwilling to cooperate positively with workers attending to them. In this regard, this essay will determine whether probation officers can have an impact in changing the behavior of offenders, what the officers can do to effectively impact the offenders and further discuss the Saint Leo University core values. To start with, many correctional centers have been developed to cater for the ever-increasing number of community offenders. However, the increase in the number of offenders has not been matched with the increase in the numbers of probation officers. As a result, many probation officers have been unable to cope up with their duty requirements and instead opted to use an easy way out. According to the United States Courts, the inefficiencies in management of probation systems and increased case loads have made the probation officers to adopt the “less time consuming and resource intensive” approach that involves talking tough and threatening the offender with punishment if they fail to comply (2013). This kind of approach has been shown to be ineffective considering the rates of recidivisms that arise due to use of such approaches. As a result, many researchers have come up with evidence-based correction practices to be utilized in correctional centers. However, despite the obvious challenges that the probation officers face, the officers can impact to bring about change to offenders in several ways. The methods are mainly based on identification and addressing of offenders needs. According to Home Office Research Studies, there is evidence that offenders have criminogenic needs that when addressed by the probation officers can lead to change of the offenders (2005). Firstly, probation officers can influence by addressing the emotional needs of the offenders. According to U.S. Department of Justice, offenders with little emotional control are likely to commit crimes frequently (2007). The probation officers can help the offenders to regain their emotional control by encouraging them to identify natural talents and interests that worked for them before. In addition, the probation officers are supposed to take control of difficult situations identified by the offender by talking in a tactical way that can make the offender to decipher the issue easily (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). The U.S. Department of Justice further states that when probation officers listen to offenders and focus on their positive aspects, it is possible to improve their emotional control (2007). Secondly, the probation officers can influence to bring change to the offenders by helping them to reconnect to the society and initiate healthy relationships. This can be done through several methods. To begin with, probation officers can identify positive friends and family members who can be involved in the rehabilitation process of the offender to act as role models and also encourage the victims to change (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). Another way of helping the offenders to reconnect with the community is by helping them to gain employment. The probation officers can do this by engaging employment agencies that help to secure opportunities for jobless people. According to the Home Office Research Studies, there is evidence that finding employment opportunities for offenders reduces recidivism cases (2005). Therefore, probation officers can impact by reintegrating offenders to the community. Thirdly, probation officers can impact to bring change to the offenders through motivational talks to the culprits. Considering the fact that offenders are involuntary clients, there are high chances that they may be unwilling to undertake the probation requirements since they are ‘coerced ’to take them. Therefore, the probation officers can encourage and motivate the offenders to undertake the services by highlighting the importance of the services. For example, substance abuse is highly related to criminal behavior and therefore some offenders may be directed to undergo treatment. This is because there is evidence that drug treatment is effective to offenders found under the influence of drugs. However, most of the offenders are usually unwilling to undertake drug treatment but their stand on the matter can be highly influenced by the probation officers through motivational talk (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). Lastly, the probation officers can impact to bring change to the offenders by providing living examples of offenders who have fully recovered. In order to execute this, probation officers have to establish good relationships with the offenders so as to encourage the offenders to feel ‘free’ to the probation officers. This has been done well by the probation officers through increased empathy to the offenders (Hanson 2009). By involving offenders who have fully recovered from drug addition, probation officers help to increase the social concern of offenders and as a result promote positive change. This is because there is evidence that offenders have less concern about other people and therefore do not care about the consequences of their action (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). Therefore, by incorporating ex-offenders into the rehabilitation process, the probation officers will increase the circle of concern of the offenders in the program and hence promote positive change of their behaviors. On the other hand, for probation officers to be effective in promoting change among the offenders, several interventions must be executed carefully. To begin with, probation officers must be able to understand and evaluate the learning methods of offenders. Offenders have different learning styles considering their diverse background. Therefore, it is important for the probation officers to identify the learning styles that work best for particular offenders. For example, some offenders have less verbal skills and prefer thinking, meaning that verbal therapy cannot work well for them (Kavanagh 2007). Secondly, the probation officers should reinforce pro-social values in order to create good relationship with the offenders (Kidron & Fleischman 2006). By developing good relationship with the offenders, the probation officers can have an opportunity of identifying what works best for a particular offender and hence good results upon implementation. Of more importance, the probation officers should consider implementing multi-modal interventions in order to reduce recidivism rates. According to Home Office Research Studies, offenders may benefit in a broader sense from a portfolio of selected interventions (2005).Therefore, implementation of several interventions that target various criminogenic needs can lead to good outcome in terms of reduction of recidivism. For example, targeting to improve self-control, increase circle of caring, engaging pro-social values, treatment of substance abuse, increasing contact with pro-social faces and places and reconnecting to healthy relationships can lead to reduced recidivism (U.S. Department of Justice 2007). This is true because it is a normal occurrence for offenders to have been motivated by several factors to commit a crime. Therefore, by addressing all criminogenic needs, the probation officers will have succeeded in changing the offenders. Saint Leo University has several core values that relate well with the aims of probation facilities. Saint Leo University aims to develop hospitable Christian learning communities everywhere it operates. This fits well with my response because the university aims to create socially responsible citizens. This is in line with impacting change on offenders so that they can be socially responsible citizens. Secondly, Saint Leo University is an educational enterprise that ensures students have character and skills that enable them to become morally responsible leaders. Again, this is in line with my response above because probation facilities aim to impart skills to offenders in order to enable them become morally responsible in the society. Thirdly, Saint Leo University stresses on personal development for all members to have a balanced life. Similarly, the probation facilities contribute to personal development of the offenders by making them reform and reintegrate back into the society. In addition, the university has a core value of responsible stewardship where resources are effectively utilized for the benefit of the community. This can be equated to responsible management of rehabilitation programs by the probation officers in order to reduce recidivism in the society. Lastly, Saint Leo University has a core value of integrity where members strive to deliver promises. Integrity is also essential part for success of probation programs in the society. The probation officers have to deliver what works with the offenders if at all good results have to be obtained. In conclusion, offenders, being involuntary clients to the probation officers, are not easy to deal with. However, from the above discussion, it is evident that the probation officers can impact to change the behavior of offenders in several ways. Therefore, it is important for the probation officers to capitalize on criminogenic needs of the offenders in order to encourage them to change. Further, the probations officers should effectively implement multi-modal interventions in order to address various issues that lead to offence commitment. It is also worth noting that the core values of Saint Leo University are closely related to the functions of rehabilitation centers in the society. References Hanson, C. (2009). Probation Officers – Friend or Foe? Inside Time. Retrieved from http://www.insidetime.org/articleview.asp?a=406&c=probation_officers__friend_or_foe Home Office Research Studies. (2005). The Impact Of Corrections On Re-Offending: A Review Of ‘What Works’. Retrieved from http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110218135832/rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs04/hors291.pdf Kavanagh, J.S. (2007). An Exploration of Offenders Experiences of Being on A Probation Supervision Order. Retrieved from http://www.probation.ie/pws/websitepublishing.nsf/AttachmentsByTitle/An+exploration+of+offenders+experiences+of+being+on+a+Probtion+Supervison+Order+-+Feb+07/$FILE/An+exploration+of+offenders+experiences+of+being+on+a+Probation+Supervision+Order+-+Feb+07.pdf Kidron, Y and Fleischman, S. (2006). Research Matters / Promoting Adolescents' Prosocial Behavior. Teaching the Tweens. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/apr06/vol63/num07/Promoting-Adolescents'-Prosocial-Behavior.aspx U.S. Department of Justice. (2007). Motivating Offenders to Change. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.nicic.gov/Library/022253.pdf United States Courts. (2013). Creating a Supervision Tool Kit: How to Improve Probation and Parole. Retrieved from http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/FederalCourts/PPS/Fedprob/2013-06/toolkit.html Read More