Ethics of a Probation Officer Essay

A probation officer is tasked with ensuring the community is safe by providing the necessary supervision to criminal offenders. Such officers are often faced with ethical dilemmas in the course of their duties. A probation officer needs to be discrete in his/her duties. Such a discretion comes with certain ethical implications that they are supposed to uphold. One of the ethical challenges that a probation officer may face is the ability to enforce the rules of the courts. Probation officers have a lot of work and are supposed to travel to different locations as part of their work. Such duties may make it hard for a probation officer to do his/her job. The ethical dilemma in this field may make someone want to use a shortcut and avoid visiting all the offenders. However, officers should not fall into the temptation.

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Probation officers are also faced with the challenges of being truthful and reporting accurately. The court expects a probation officer to report the status, progress and recommendations to the justice system. The officer is not allowed to alter o falsify any documents in favor of the offender. Any misrepresentation or falsification on the part of the probation officer may alter the outcome and the proceedings of the justice system. However, there are times that a probation officer may become close with an offender during his duties as a supervisor. In such a circumstance, a probation officer may be faced with an ethical issue when reporting the progress of the offender. A probation officer may be tempted to write a report that is friendly and shows the offender in a positive light. Officers should, therefore, strive to keep a professional related to avoid such an ethical dilemma.

A probation officer who is supervising a relative may also be faced with ethical issues. The officer may not be able to give a truthful account of what the progress of the offender is in the current situation (Champion, 2002). Since the officer and the offender have a personal relationship, he/she may not be in a position to give information that would give a negative light to the offender. Such an ethical issue is prevalent in not only the probation profession but also in other disciplines. In such a situation, it is advisable for a probation officer to supervise people who are not their friends or related. The ability to have people who are not relatives will enable the parole officer to give accurate and neutral information. The ethical issues do not, however, affect all the parole officer.

Conclusion

There are several policies that probation departments can maintain to manage ethical issues in their officers. The department can manage ethical issues by reducing monetary temptations. The probation officers should be compensated a salary that is consistent with their education. The education, experience, and responsibility should also be considered to ensure a probation officer do not succumb to financial pressure (Hugman, 2002). The ability to pay employees salary that can sustain them will ensure people are not tempted to take a bribe from offenders to give false information about them. The parole department should also provide opportunities for its officers for growth. There should be an external and internal structure set in place to ensure probation officers get additional training and promotions. The caseloads should also be periodical, reassigned and reviewed to check the quality of work.

References

Champion, D. J. (2002). Probation, parole, and community corrections. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Hugman, R. (2002). Ethical Issues in Social Work (3rd ed.). Psychology Press.