Juvenile Justice: The Role Of Probation And Parole Officer

A probation officer’s has many duties to fulfill. They are not only supervising the offenders that live within the community, but by monitoring probationers’ progress. The offender must stay away of any trouble, yet comply with the rules and regulations required. A probation officer should help the offender resume a better, productive life for themselves. They should also make it their duty to help them to rehabilitate and be placed back into the

Placing a juvenile in a detention center early in the court process increases the risk that youths will be found to be delinquent and damage their prospects for future success. A majority of the youths that are placed in these facilities pose little or no threat to the public and essentially do not need to be there. This portion of the juvenile court process is detrimental to the future and mental aspects of a youth’s life. We desperately need to change the way that we handle the juvenile court system because we are only reinforcing the delinquent behavior that these youths have been exposed to. We need to focus on the rehabilitation and prevention efforts for these youths not the punishment aspect and until then (insert a better ending).

The duties of a probation and parole officer are pretty universal nationwide and an officer must carry a high ethical standard in order to be successful at the job as well as values such as honesty, fairness, and consideration of others. Probation is an alternative that permits the offender to live among society with certain restrictions that are ordered by the courts. When prisons are overcrowded, an offender can be granted parole and they are given the opportunity to finish their sentence and live in society, with restrictions. Probation and parole officers both strive for the same goals: aid in rehabilitation, supervise, and protect the community as well

Probation officers serve as supervisors and mentors for offenders who are trying to get back on their feet. When a convicted offender is released on probation, the officers have to help set up counseling appointments, educational programs, employment opportunities, and housing. The duty as a probation officer is to make sure an offender attends any counseling, job training, and work to get them involved in social activities needed with their rehabilitation. An interesting fact about a probation officer is that they spend most of their time doing paperwork. Although probation officers visit their clients, and do regular drug test on them, they spend most of the time doing paper work and documenting their client’s progress. You would have to have a big passion for helping others because the job can seem boring to people who do not have a desire to help people. The officers monitor offenders to prevent them from committing new crimes. This helps to try and make the world a better place.

It has been one hundred years since the creation of the juvenile court in the United States. The court and the juvenile justice system has made some positive changes in the lives of millions of young people lives over the course or those years, within the last thirteen years there has been some daunting challenges in the system.

Over 1/3 of the 11,000 index crime arrests were juveniles under the age of 16.

The Probation Officer and Offender role has been widely examined, specifically in regards to the effective management of risk (McNeill, 2009, NOMS 2010). Within this, it is recognised that the relationship between these individuals is paramount to the effective management of risk and offending behaviour. There have been numerous working practices introduced throughout the years within the Probation Service to identify effective working practices including the Effective Practice Principles and latterly, Skills for Effective Engagement, Development and Supervision known by the acronym SEEDS (Rex & Hosking, 2013). Whilst these have greatly influenced the work being undertaken by Probation practitioners, the management of risk of

There have been many studies conducted that examine ways in which the juvenile justice system responds to female offenders. Historically juvenile female offenders have been treated under status offense jurisdiction (Zahn et al., 2010, p. 10). United States Courts would exercise the principle of “parens patriae” to place the female in detention as a form of punishment for misbehavior (Sherman, 2012, pp. 1589-1590). This principle also remains prevalent as it pertains to how the juvenile justice system currently responds to juvenile female offenders.

There is much debate over whether or not juveniles should ever be tried as adults. Juveniles are defined as children under the age of 18. In the past, juveniles have been tried in a separate juvenile court because of their age. However, trying juveniles as adults for violent crimes is a trend that is on the rise. Age is supposed to be a deterrent for placing those under 18 on trial and giving them stiffer punishments that are often reserved for adults. Many debate whether or not juveniles really should have less severe punishments or if trying some juveniles as adults will lower juvenile crime rates.

Before we explore the roles and responsibilities of a Juvenile Probation Officer we first must explore the juvenile justice system itself as well as to why it was set in place. In the United States, juveniles that fell into trouble with the law were automatically treated different from adults. Before the juvenile courts were established, children under the age of 7 were never really held responsible for their criminal acts. The law considered them unable to commit any criminal intent, however this could be disproved if the child knew that the act he or she was committing was a crime or that it would cause harm to another

Probation services – Probation services are called when someone is found guilty of hurting or mistreating a child or young person. There a number of responsibilities that probation officers have, some of which include making assessments to advise courts, managing and enforcing community orders, and working with prisoners during and after sentencing. In an attempt to rehabilitate offenders, they also have a duty to implement the conditions of court orders and release licences. To help protect the public, they run offender risk

Juveniles committing crimes is not a new issued being introduced to society; actually, it has been an issue for centuries. However, the big question is, should juveniles be tried in adult courts? Before answering, take into consideration every possible scenario that could have led them to commit the crime. For instance, were they the leader in the act? Did they participate in the crime? Was the juvenile even aware of what was taking place? Were they peer pressured? Did they have any other choice at the time? There are so many other questions we could consider when making a decision here.

When thinking of reforming the juvenile justice system one has to think; what can we do to make this better for everyone involve? There are some programs that can be implemented when trying to make a change in the juvenile system. The main thing is getting parents or the guardian more involved in the child’s whereabouts. Secondly the community where the youth will have a place to go and have something more constructive to do to keep them out of trouble. Law enforcement can get involved in giving ride along and having visits to the local jails or prisons from the youth to talk to some of the inmates. Crime in life isn’t racist at all it has a no age limit, no certain gender and no social status for most of those whom decide to partake in a criminal activity. From the beginning juveniles have been an issue with law enforcement, the question has always arisen of whom will take control without cruel and unusual punishment and assist with the rehabilitation and prevention future crime actions.

The juvenile justice system is similar to the criminal justice system. This system is where juveniles are processed, and may be arrested after referrals for juvenile delinquency. Juvenile justice is very different in every state and can be very similar as well because every system has limited jurisdiction and that most focus on the offenders and not their offenses. Therefore, there are 51 juvenile justice systems in the United States. The United States has the juvenile justice system because children are very different than adults – in that they can be better receptive for change and also being easier to rehabilitate. Moreover, the main goal of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation (Juvenile Law Center). The juvenile justice system is made up of police, courts, corrections, probation and parole services, as well as community-based programs to name a few (book).

As we know, probation and parole officers play a major role in shaping an offenders perception of reality as well as changing their behavior. The question that many will ask is “is the role of the PO that of a social worker or cop?” In my opinion, probation and parole officers have a huge weight on their shoulders due to the caseloads that they receive. Since the recent police brutality cases the mentality of an officer needs to change with the times. I believe that officers should lean more towards being a social worker/cop because they should be able to gain common ground with citizens while keeping their best interest and public safety at heart. In short, officers have to play multiple roles depending upon the situation and the stipulations