“ON PROBATION”, WHAT does it mean to you? For most of us, it’s work-related. It’s the six months after we start a new job.
For some though, the word probation can be the difference between jail time and another chance. A chance to change.
The Probation Service is part of the Criminal Justice System and it works with people who have pleaded guilty or been found guilty of a crime. The judge may ask for a report from the Probation Service which meets with the offender to try to figure out the circumstances that contributed to their offending.
In that report, the probation officer makes recommendations regarding the options available to the judge. After that, it’s up to the judge.
Generally, we only observe court proceedings through the prism of a brief court report in the news; the overall process is not obvious to us.
We can have a knee-jerk reaction to the length or absence of a prison sentence. That’s understandable. We’re hard-wired to want retribution. Some studies have shown that getting revenge triggers the dopamine reward pathway in our brains. The same part of the brain that also gets triggered by, ironically, the type of drugs which can get offenders into trouble in the first place.
But you can’t run a justice system based on dopamine.
Over time, I’ve started to see that if we’re serious about protecting communities, as well as prisons and police, there has to be an important function that invests time and money in helping offenders not re-offend.
I first saw the effect of this in Frontline Bikes near where I live in Inchicore, in Dublin. It is part of Frontline Make Change, a service that helps people dealing with addiction. Frontline Bikes works with people reintegrating after prison by training them as bike mechanics. After MCing the official opening of Frontline’s new training unit and factory in Bluebell, the Probation Service got in touch with me to ask if I’d like to host a new podcast.
And I’m glad they did. Because it has been a fascinating experience and one that’s challenged my preconceptions and really opened my eyes to the many people who are helping keep communities safe – besides policing and high walls.
As I researched this subject, I spoke with probation officers, victims, community-based organisations and offenders. And what emerges is a nuanced, complex picture of crime, reoffending and taking a different path.
The relationship between the probation officer and the client can be a long-term one. For example, I chatted with, Neil, a probation officer, and his former client. They’ve known each other for 20 years, and for 10 of those they worked to keep him out of jail and rebuild his life. He has since gone on to become a successful company owner and is helping others onto a crime-free path.
One of the most surprising things I learned while making this series is just how interconnected the Probation Service is with various community based organisations. They’re not just about supervising offenders; they’re part of a larger system designed to help people rehabilitate, reintegrate and reach their full potential. The Service works with and supports a range of programmes including restorative justice programmes, youth initiatives and employment schemes.
Two of the community organisations featured in On Probation are Candle in Ballyfermot and Treo Port Lairge in Waterford. On visiting both, I learned how much of a difference a holistic approach can make to repairing damaged lives. I went in there, very much with a mindset of “Oh boohoo, the tough upbringing story” but my visits taught me it’s not a cliché. I heard from staff how young people who grow up in conflict simply see the world differently and that some young people who offend will, when they walk into a room, be immediately scanning for threats.
I heard about how people might be effectively, though not statistically, homeless and how there may be no-go areas for them. And, calling a spade a spade, how crime is simply the most obvious way for them to make money. And, in the calm friendly environment of Treo and Candle I met some of the young people and heard what they wanted to do, given the chance and respite from difficult circumstances. And it wasn’t crime they chose.
Coincidentally, around the time of recording some On Probation I was attacked on the street where I live when I tried to prevent a group of young lads from breaking into a car. It’s hard to care about the background of someone hitting you with a bottle, but at least now I understand how they are not criminal masterminds. Most crime is often a series of bad decisions.
And the victims? Isn’t all of this just mollycoddling people who are playing the system? The victim has to be central to the work. The goal of any good Probation Officer or community organisation is to prevent new victims. Secondly, as one officer told me, the offender has often previously been a victim of crime themselves so their experience of the justice system can influence what happens next.
Likewise, as I learned from talking with James Gough whose sister was murdered, the Probation Service has a central role to play in restorative justice, a process though which offenders and victims of crime come face to face. Restorative Justice can take many formats, but at its core it about giving victims a voice in the justice process and holding those who have offended to account.
While talking to probation officers and community organisations, one thought niggled at me. “Are you worried you’re being played? They’re just telling you what you want to hear to stay out of jail?” The people who work with offenders know that’s always a possibility. They are after all keeping people out of jail. The offenders know that they need these people on side so they at least have to play ball. But most working relationship begins with quid pro quo.
And ideally, once they’ve got their client’s attention, then the probation officer can start to help them see alternative choices. And if they don’t engage, the judge knows and they could be back before the court. Whatever the motivations, the Probation Service is focused on reducing offending, building safer communities and through community service, payback for communities.
Now, this is not a Hollywood film. The journey to the straight and narrow is often full of relapses. And we are a society impatient for results.
But the Probation Service and the community-based organisations they work with are getting those results. Just without the dopamine.
Com O’Regan is the host of the new On Probation podcast. The first episode is out now on Spotify and Apple with new episodes coming each week.
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