Probation Officers: The Next Generation

This study is an investigation into the new world of probation. For the past two
decades the Probation Service has struggled to survive in a highly ambivalent
social and political climate. During this period, the training of probation officers
has separated from social work training and the service has adopted a more
punishment-focused, coercive and managerialist stance in its work with
offenders.
Using a mixed methods approach that includes semi-structured interviews and
case discussions, my research focuses on a sample of recently qualified
probation officers with a view to exploring their experiences and perceptions of
their working lives, and to construct a picture of the occupation from a
newcomer perspective. In particular, given the shift in the ideological
framework of the service, I wished to learn about the professional identity of the
generation of probation officers who are now entering the service through an
examination of their motivation and practices.
Despite pressure to eradicate the welfare-oriented ethos of the service, a
significant and unexpected discovery arising from my research has been the
resilience of traditional values that are brought to the service in the aspirations
and habitus of newcomers. My findings are contextualised in relation to the
criminal justice system, the historical development of the probation service, the
status of probation as a profession and my own 'insider' experience. In
addition, the study is underpinned by a theoretical perspective that draws on the
work of the French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu.

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