Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8bljj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-05T19:37:49.752Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

seven - Professional practices and skills in first interviews: a comparative perspective on probation practice in Spain and Belgium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2022

Pamela Ugwudike
Affiliation:
University of Southampton
Peter Raynor
Affiliation:
Swansea University
Get access

Summary

Introduction

As this volume reflects, there is a growing body of empirical research on the practice of offender supervision in Europe and some recent work on probation practice using observations (Raynor et al, 2010, 2014; Trotter and Evans, 2012; Durnescu, 2014). As far as we know, however, probation practices have never been addressed comparatively using observation as a method.

In this chapter, we address the initial phase of the working relationships practitioners and service users develop in the context of community sentences in Flanders and Catalonia. In particular, we focus on the practices undertaken and the skills used in first interviews; we also reflect on how these practices set the scene for the working relationship between probation officers and probationers.

To do so, we have gathered documentary data (legal information, regulations and mission statements, national standards and practitioners’ guidelines) and have drawn on empirical research: previous research by the authors involving in-depth interviews with practitioners and structured observation of first interviews between practitioners and probationers.

The observations were conducted by researchers from various European jurisdictions in the context of a subgroup of the COST Action on Offender Supervision in Europe (Boxstaens et al, 2015). The main aim of this international group of researchers, who were members of the COST Action subgroup on Practising Supervision, was to explore the use of observation as a method for data collection in comparative research on probation practice. Although the aim was methodological and the study necessarily exploratory, the substantive data gathered in the two jurisdictions is rich enough for a comparative exercise.

The relationship between clients and therapists

In the field of psychotherapy and counselling, it is well established that the relationship between clients and therapists or counsellors is a vital component of the therapeutic process (Lambert and Barley, 2002; Binder et al, 2009; Norcross, 2011; DeLude et al, 2012). A very broad, but widespread, definition of a relationship in a therapeutic context was introduced by Gelso and Carter (1994): ‘The relationship is the feelings and attitudes that therapist and client have toward one another, and the manner in which they are expressed’ (Gelso and Samstag, 2008, p 268).

Type
Chapter
Information
Evidence-Based Skills in Criminal Justice
International Research on Supporting Rehabilitation and Desistance
, pp. 127 - 156
Publisher: Bristol University Press
Print publication year: 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×