An Examination of Management Strategiesand Attitudes Among Probation Officers

Abstract

The authors examined management strategy profiles in probationofficers (POs; N¼57; African American¼96%; male¼53%)using Probation Practices Assessment Survey scores. Results of acluster analysis yielded three profiles: compliance, therapeutic,and intensive. POs with a compliance profile were characterizedby high frequency of deterrence and confrontation strategies andless frequent use of behavioral, counseling, and restorative strate-gies when compared to colleagues. Therapeutic POs reported touse deterrence and confrontation strategies infrequently. At thesame time, therapeutic POs reported to use behavioral and counsel-ing tactics, and to a lesser degree restorative approaches, on aslightly above average basis. The intensive profile was marked bythe frequent use of all different types of probation approaches.Results also showed that management profiles were indicative ofattitudes toward punitiveness, mental health rehabilitation, andresponse to probation in juveniles.