Punish, Help, Change and Control: The Changing Role of the Probation Officer

Over recent years probation officers have faced a constant barrage of change which has impacted on all aspects of policy and practice. The operationalisation of the NOMS tiering framework will have significant implications for the allocation of resources and in turn the deployment of probation staff. This typology of case management entails the imposition of additional ‘layers’ of intervention: punishment at Tier 1; punishment and help at Tier 2; punishment, help and personal change at Tier 3, and punishment, help, personal change and control at Tier 4. Probation officers will be working at levels 3 and 4, with medium to high risk offenders, and managing the most complex sentences. The wider ramifications of this tiering framework for the work of probation officers are explored within this paper. This review is informed by a qualitative research study carried out in 2007 in the SW Region of England when a total of 77 probation officers, (from Cohorts 1-5 from the Diploma in Probation Studies at the University of Plymouth), responded to a postal questionnaire. The findings are drawn on to explore and analyse responses to change, particularly in relation to organisational restructuring and work with offenders. While areas of tension were identified, a sense of professional repositioning was also apparent. ‘Advise, assist and befriend’ was the clarion call of the first century of Probation. This paper explores whether and how ‘punish, help, change and control’ is likely to characterise the role of the probation officer at the start of the 21st century.