NCJ Number
90481
Journal
Bewaehrungshilfe Volume: 28 Issue: 4 Dated: (1981) Pages: 327-345
Date Published
1981
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This article presents arguments for group counseling of probationers/parolees and gives details of a planning and implementation approach to be used by West German probation/parole officers (social workers) in setting up a therapy group for their clients.
Abstract
Among the arguments used for such a practice are the casework overloads which burden most probation officers and the social (i.e., group) aspects of both criminal and rehabilitative processes. Obstacles to the groupwork with probationers are identified and include clients' distrustful attitudes toward probation officers as coercive power figures whose job requires exercising control over them. A plea is made for the administrative support of the probation service in encouraging group work and allocating resources to establish it. The recommended approach is based on principles of group dynamics, therapeutic counseling, topic-centered interaction, transaction analysis, Gestalt therapy, and behavior modification. Steps in a probation officer's plan to begin a group include initial planning, arranging for an appropriate location for meetings and financing it, selecting participants, inviting participants and motivating them, preparing for the duration of the group at least over a 6-month period, anticipating dropouts and poor attendance, setting up rules to be observed at meetings, and preparing the content and structure of successive sessions. Experience has shown that the parolee-parole officer relationship as well as the self-concept of clients can benefit from group counseling. Charts and 17 references are given.