NEWS FROM THE CRC

Probation Officer working with the Womens Project in Nottingham

I was looking for a career change and the more I found out about probation work, the more I
thought this is for me. I qualified in 2003 and worked in a generic probation field team before
moving to the specialist female offending team. We link in with a womens proect that is
partl! funded b! the "ottingham #it! #ouncil.
Interconnected
In m! role I am concentrating as much on the womens lifest!les and personal relationships
as their offending, as the! are inevitabl! wrapped up in each other. $he crimes have often
been committed as a result of an abusive partners influence and manipulation.
%ne of m! cases told me that I was the first person that had actuall! listened to what she
had to sa!. &ou sometimes see shock on their faces when I sa! that I want to hear what the!
think, not their bo!friend or partner.
'ighl! skilled
(! work does demand a high level of skill because I often have to coa) the person I am
dealing with to start to open up and talk about their feelings and what has happened to them.
I dont make udgements on what the! sa! and I carefull! phrase m! questions so the! cant
close down the conversation b! responding with a simple !es or no.
%ur training teaches us how to develop motivational interview skills that are so important in
the work I am currentl! involved with. &ou have e)perience in one team that gives !ou
valuable insights for when !ou move to a different aspect of probation work. *or e)ample I
have worked with men convicted of domestic violence, and I am now supervising women
offenders. + significant number of these women have e)perienced mental and ph!sical
abuse at the hands of their partner.
+s the work progresses I am able to build up a clearer picture of each female offender, which
informs m! assessment of their potential risk of re,offending so I can be aware of the
warning signs that their risk ma! be escalating.