‘Never deprive someone of hope- it may be all they have’
(Unknown)
The Department of Probation and Aftercare fulfils the dual roles to inspire hope that can encourage a desire to change and contribute to public safety by facilitating law-abiding behaviour through supervision and treatment interventions.
The corporate objective is to seek to stop the cycle of crime and/or prevent offenders from becoming serious and violent criminals. To effectively fulfil this objective the department offers treatment interventions, offender assessment and social work activities in collaboration with a network of social agencies as well as socialization agents such as the church and family.
Hope and change are fundamental necessities for maturity, growth and empowerment, which are some aspects of the rehabilitation process for all age groups. It can be argued that the complexity of human behaviour does not allow for accurate prediction of those who will positively respond to treatment interventions but hope and change are among the constant factors of life that, along with a positive mindset, can motivate achievement of one’s best personal potential. Hence, in addition to the court mandate, the rehabilitation programmes are operated on the basis that all human beings have potential and have a right to be allowed opportunity to achieve their full potential.
The Department of Probation and Aftercare recognises that it cannot base its work of supervising offenders upon a dictionary meaning of rehabilitation which, according to the Oxford dictionary, is ‘to restore to effectiveness or normal life by training.’
With reference to offender management, rehabilitation would often be impractical if the fundamental concept was to restore. The following scenario, may demonstrate the point:
Kirk (pseudonym) is a 30-year-old Caymanian male offender who is serving a two year probation order. He has a criminal record for various offences including burglary, possession and consumption of cocaine and marijuana and failure to surrender to custody.
He dreams of having a stable family relationship, his own house, a car and a good paying permanent job. Today, his main goal is to exit the criminal justice system but he is often discontent with aspects of his life such as an emotionally absent father, fights and verbal abuses in the home, on and off relationship with his girlfriend and inadequate income. He feels that smoking illegal drugs helps him to cope with stress and he has been a user since the age of 15.
He informed his probation officer that he just needs a job and complains that the employers request his criminal record. He is dissatisfied that he has only received temporary jobs as a labourer. He shared that whenever he settles in a job he gets remanded and hence he feels the police have targeted him.
Like many repeat offenders, Kirk views life as hopeless. From a young age he had to survive in a dysfunctional family and now it seems society is against him too.
There are social barriers to overcome in the community, hidden fears, memories of emotional abuse, a sense of personal failure, dashed hopes, insecure relationships and self-defeating attitudes. He is convinced that he is marginalised and excluded from the opportunities available to others in the society.
The Department of Probation and Aftercare provides a rehabilitation agenda for many Kirks.
This relationship seeks to take many offenders where they have never been before hence, the aim is not to restore but to hope anew and change direction. It is a relationship with hurting people who are often socially disoriented and unable to adequately cope with the desire for immediate gratification of basic needs for love, friendship, finances, pleasure as well as social and emotional security. It is also a relationship where offenders are given an impetus that rebuilds hope but they bear the responsibility for personal change.
The tasks of renewing hope and facilitating change are often beyond the scope of a two-year probation order or a four-year parole licence as many dynamic factors or needs are outside the responsibility of the department and are not susceptible to change at the same rate.
Hence, the probation/parole officer shares the face to face relationship with service providers who can render further client specific treatment e.g. substance abuse counsellors.
Research has often shown that a lack of life skills is a major factor in recidivism and adequate provision requires the combined resources of a network of agencies and partners.
In liaison with the probation/parole officers, they seek to offer counselling, psycho-social groups for personal development, access to accommodation, training, employment and any opportunity that facilitates empowerment. The Department of Probation and Aftercare has increased its provision of cognitive-behavioural groups and now facilitate anger management, stress management, time to change, healthy relationships and domestic violence groups.
Possibly, the most significant partners needed are the family and community.
Too often the community has already stigmatised the offender as hopeless and refused to offer opportunities for inclusion.
Whereas the department concedes that many offenders should be in treatment and remain accountable, it encourages families and influential community members to embrace change and share in partnership with the treatment providers.
Let us all seek to inspire hope and create opportunities for change as we share together in community rehabilitation. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. warns us, ‘Beware how you take away hope from any human being.’
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