what are the major issues facing probation officers in the UK at the moment?

Question

I am trying to prepare for an interview! please help!

Answer 1

I don't know if this answer would be acceptable at an interview, but I strongly suspect that the attitude of criminals would be a major issue. Where probation officers try to help with the offenders problems and try to show them the error of their ways, I would imagine that most of the offenders just don't want to hear it; that they think they're hard done by for being caught in the first place, probably just don't give a s**t about the situation and are just paying lip service to the punishment by turning up.

Good luck though, if it's what you want to do then all the best!!

Answer 2

The major issues facing probation officers include the pending privatisation of the service under a bill that is currently being read in the House of Lords, after that it is chronic underfunding and workloads which are through the roof. There is also insecurity about the professional role of Probation Officer, with increasingly less time spent with their case loads and more in overseeing the work that others do with them.

They won't want you to rant but if you approach these issues delicately then you can reflect the concerns.

Prison overcrowding is irrelevent to a PO, your sentencing reports should be blind to this. It does, however, impact on whether they have time to do offence focussed work while inside which will in turn have an effect on what remains to be done when they come out.

Public perception is an issue because the negativity with which probation is viewed has an impact on staff morale but it also has the effect of driving the government to legislate (this isn't always what practitioners consider to be dealing with the central problem - back to privatisation again)

Offender attitudes can be a significant barrier but you will already have transferrable skills and will hone these. Offenders denial about their offending or their ongoing risks can be a greater difficulty, sometimes when they won't play ball the only route is to impose constraints.

Check out the NAPO Website, the forum gives a realistic if jaded picture of the current landscape. Memorising some of the jargon from the home office/Probation sites will help as well

The application form is the hardest part, don't worry and good luck

Answer 3

Prison overcrowding? Suspect it has a knock on effect to probabtion because you're dealing with people that may be out before they should be etc

Also, rehabilitation into society? My friend is an occupational therapist (for hospitals) and argued that if prisoners arent taught how to sign on and get help securing housing etc then they end up returning to crime because they dont have any access to 'legit' ways to start their lives again.

Also, just been a big scandal about tagging- google it as was in the news a few days ago. Basically, the tags dont work (oublic Vs privatisation? was a contracted company that appears to not be monitoring properly)!

Good luck! Try going on career websites (monster.com, guardian jobs etc) as they often have interview tips!

Answer 4

I think getting the people on probation to attend & there attitude.