Volunteers Involved in Protective Supervision (From Troisieme seminaire regional du CICC en Europe centrale, 1976, V 1 - Les mesures post-penales, P 137-145, Alice Parizeau, ed - See NCJ-70486)

• NCJ Number: 70492
• Author(s): P Wierzbicki
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: French
• Country: Canada

Annotation

The use of volunteers for protective supervision of recidivists in Poland is described.

Abstract

Today protective supervision is accomplished mainly by volunteers appointed by district court committees. Volunteers must be Polish citizens with full rights, reside permanently in Poland, be over 26 years old, and be worthy of total confidence. In practice, volunteers are usually men (68.4 percent) over 40 years old; most have at least secondary education and are employed in white collar jobs. Volunteers are expected to familiarize themselves with materials on their recidivist clients, to make contact with them and their surroundings, and to help them overcome difficulties. Volunteers must also participate periodically in conferences organized by the courts. The most difficult clients to supervise are multirecidivists, violent offenders, and alcoholics. According to volunteers, factors crucial to success are immediate work placement, contact with a positive environment, continuous supervisor-supervisee contact, and positive supervisor personalties. Although their attitudes are important, volunteers may be autocratic and distant, intimidating, understanding and supportive, or flexible, using various methods as the situation warrants. Individuals under supervision may be suspicious and reserved, calculating, grateful, or variable in their response to assistance. The interrelationship between supervisor and client is affected by the sex of the supervisor and the length of the term of probation: women volunteers are viewed as more suspicious than men and supervisor-client rapport improves over a long period of contact. The supervisor must work with various organizations in dealing with clients and must determine the cause of difficulties in clients' contacts with various institutions. Finding work is the most frequently cited reason for contacting institutions. In the view of volunteers, a number of changes could improve supervisory functions. These include increased availability of information on clients, supervisor collaboration with the factories and businesses which employ clients; and selection of volunteer supervisors appropriate for the needs of particular clients. Both the work of the volunteers and the protective supervision system are deemed valuable for controlling recidivism.