Probation and Parole Officers: Police Officers or Social Workers (From State of Corrections: Proceedings of ACA Annual Conferences, 1989, P 67-73, 1990, Ann Dargis, ed. -- See NCJ-122583)

• NCJ Number: 122594
• Author(s): B J Nidorf
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 7 pages
• Sale Source: American Correctional Association
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Recent trends in community corrections have made it difficult to determine whether the role of probation and parole officers should be one of social workers or police officers, advocates or adversaries of offenders, or rehabilitators or punishers.

Abstract

Community corrections has moved to adopt the sanction orientation rather than its previous orientation toward rehabilitation. Adopting this orientation has already enhanced the credibility and standing of community corrections, both in the criminal justice system and in the community. A clear determination of the best role for community corrections professionals will further enhance this standing. Thus, community corrections should recognize that its focus is on the idea that people can change and that its goal is to remove the criminal's activity from the community. Therefore, probation and parole officers should recognize that they are neither police officers nor social workers. Instead, they are community correctional workers who try to protect the community by changing criminals or their environment to remove criminal activity from the community.