My first impression of the probationer was that he was an angry individual, who I would have difficulty getting to follow the rules of probation. I felt like the original probationer probably did need to be sentenced to incarceration instead of probation, due to his prior criminal history and family background. My impression changed greatly when meeting with the alternate probationer. The alternate probationer seemed like he was genuinely interested in following the rules and accepting responsibility for his actions. I felt like working with him would be fairly easy and that I would experience little to no difficulties in getting him to follow the rules of probation. Despite the differences between the original and alternate probationer …show more content…
I feel like probation can be very beneficial to both offenders and the community, as probation can focus more on rehabilitation. By working to rehabilitate offenders they can become productive members of society. In addition, by being a part of the community versus incarcerated, they are able to work towards providing retribution for their crimes, through paying fees, court costs and even community service. After working with probationers, I feel like these same goals can be achieved through probationary services. Instead of costly incarceration, which results in offenders becoming even more removed from the community, probation allows for rehabilitation while in the …show more content…
I had expected them to have to meet regularly with me, the probation officer, attend support services, such as NA or AA, and refrain from using alcohol or illegal substances. However, in both cases I was surprised at the frequency in which they meet with me, the probation officer. I had thought that for the first few months that both probationers would have meet more frequently (in part to ensure they were following the rule of probation). However, given that an average probation officer in Rockpoint has a caseload of 75 probationers, it was understandable that meeting more regularly would be difficult to impossible.
My viewpoints had not change between the first and second time I took the survey. I still feel that the main goals of probation are rehabilitation and deterrence. In addition, I feel that probation/community supervision is a better option to incarceration, when the offender does not pose an immediate threat or danger to the community. Upon completing the exercises in this assignment, I feel like my views were confirmed. A large part of a probation officer’s job is to provide rehabilitation services to offenders and offer deterrence against committing new/additional