NCJ Number
131506
Journal
Social Defence Volume: 28 Issue: 98 Dated: (October 1989) Pages: 19-33
Date Published
1989
Length
15 pages
Annotation
The efficacy of India's probation system depends to a large extent on the quality of probation officers (PO's).
Abstract
The type of people hired as PO's depends on recruitment policies, qualifications at the time of recruitment, age, and service facilities for attracting the right kind of people. Age is an important factor in probation work because a well-integrated personality is required, and five personality qualities are desirable: ability to form and sustain interpersonal relationships, ability to accept responsibility for authority; ability to work with aggressive persons, ability to work with other agencies and individuals, and ability to improve performance. The issue of training PO's has been raised by many scholars who frequently argue that probation involves social work and thus requires specialized professional training. Probation officer training can be divided into two parts: preservice training (orientation, theoretical training, and casework training) and inservice training. In India, preservice training includes 2 months of orientation with PO's, 3 months of theoretical training, and 7 months of casework training. Inservice training involves short courses on various topics, intensive residential courses, seminars, and conferences. The recruitment and training of PO's in West Bengal, India, is discussed. 9 references and 2 tables