Clients' Views of Community Corrections (From Probation, Parole, and Community Corrections, P 97-108, 1985, Lawrence F Travis III, ed. - See NCJ-105068)

• NCJ Number: 105074
• Author(s): J J Gibbs
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): 78-NI-AX-0152
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Interviews with 57 men and women sentenced to probation in New Jersey produced information about their perceptions of probation and probation officers and suggested ways for matching clients with probation officers to achieve the most positive results.

Abstract

The subjects were chosen randomly, and the interviews were tape-recorded. The probationers were generally satisfied with their probation situation, rating it as a mild penalty. Its inconvenience was its most undesirable feature. Support in the form of understanding, empathy, and warmth was the most common need expressed and the dominant concern for about 30 percent of the subjects. Autonomy was the next most common concern. Other concerns were flexibility and assistance. Few subjects expressed the need for control. Findings suggested the possibility of matching clients with strong needs for support to officers considering themselves to be clinicians. Matching based on client wants may not be desirable in all cases, however. The matching should take place within the framework provided by the objectives of probation. Self-study by probation officers is a way of providing the information needed for making matches. Considering client and supervisor characteristics in making decisions may also be helpful in other forms of community corrections. Note and 2 references.