Probation Officer Well Being

The Institute of Criminology at Cambridge University recently hosted a webinar on the subject of wellbeing. Guest speakers Dr Jake Phillips and panel, Dr Chalen Westaby, Andrew Fowler and Sam Ainslie. Hosted by Professor Loraine Gelsthorpe

Probation officer well being: emotional labour and burnout amongst probation practitioners in England 

This is what the recent HMI Probation report had to say on the matter:- 

Impact of high caseloads 

The impact on staff wellbeing 

The REA commissioned as part of this project (covered in more detail in section 2.3.3), indicated that high caseloads can negatively affect staff wellbeing. A recent Canadian survey of 541 parole officers (Union of Safety and Justice Employees, 2019) found that the vast majority of custodial and community officers (86 per cent and 87 per cent respectively) believed that their workload was affecting their psychological or physical health. In a study involving an anonymous online survey of 277 Iowan community corrections staff, Rhineberger-Dunn and Mack (2019) found that role overload – defined as stress which occurs when individuals perceive there is too much to do, not enough time to do it, and that the amount of work is more important than the quality of work – was the only variable to predict job stress among a number of factors considered (including dangerousness and threat of harm, role ambiguity and role conflict).

However, there are some conflicting research findings. Garner et al. (2007) undertook a postal survey with 151 drug treatment counsellors from all eight state-run correctional-based treatment programmes in a south-western US state. The authors found that counsellor caseload size was not itself significantly associated with staff burnout; rather, other resource issues such as overall staffing levels, training, and access to ICT were the strongest predictors. 

In our interviews with responsible officers, conducted as part of our 2018/2019 probation inspections, we found many staff spoke about the stress which high workloads had caused them. They informed inspectors that they were having difficulty coping. Phrases used included being “at breaking point”, “burnt out”, or being in a state of “panic”. It was also having an impact on life outside of work: 

“I am just constantly working and thinking about work when I am not in work.” (PSO, CRC) 

“It’s very stressful. I am waking up in the night worrying.” (PSO, CRC) 

A number of staff highlighted that they were now receiving counselling for work-related stress, while others said they had considered leaving the profession. Even when they took steps to report the stress, staff often felt unsupported: 

“I’ve put in stress forms and they’ve been ignored. I have given up putting them in now.” (PO, CRC) 

“I got really stressed at one point and emailed my manager saying I can’t manage and was having panic attacks before I came into the building. But I was advised they couldn’t reduce the caseload.” (PSO, CRC) 

For a number of staff, high workloads had led to either themselves or colleagues having to take a period of sickness: 

“We have people off sick, I mean long-term sick, because of the stress.” (PSO, CRC) 

“I had the highest workload in the CRC, but nothing was done about it despite me asking for help. This culminated in me being signed off sick for two months.” (PSO, CRC) 

When staff were absent due to sickness, this then put an additional strain on those who were still at work. Consequently, due to loyalty to colleagues, some did not feel able to take sick leave, even though they were struggling to cope: 

“I would have been off work with stress, but I can’t put such a burden on my friends and colleagues.” (PSO, CRC) 

“The office has an ethic of not going sick as we are aware that a colleague will then have to pick up the work.” (PSO, CRC) 

Those SPOs interviewed as part of our inspection of NPS central functions echoed the concerns about unmanageable workloads and the impact this was having on their health: 

“I really enjoy my job and believe in what I do but the workload is relentless, especially in offender management, and the impact that the workload has on staff is not acceptable. SPOs have an impossible job and would never be able to meet the demands of the service if they were not prepared to work in their own time due to their commitment to what we do and the staff we manage. The NPS to a large extent runs on the goodwill of operational staff who go above and beyond the hours they are paid for.” (SPO, NPS) 

“The role has become unmanageable, it is a hostile environment, some days I feel the stress of the job will cause a premature death for me. Numerous staff shortages; a job that was done by two people is now done by one.” (SPO, NPS) 

One theme which emerged very strongly from the interviews was that staff were extremely grateful for the advice and support which they received from colleagues. This included: 

• completing each other’s assessments and appointments when required 

• attending meetings on their behalf 

• being mindful of any colleagues who appeared to be struggling, offering whatever assistance possible. 

Some staff also indicated that they would have left their job if it was not for the fact that they felt so appreciative of the team in which they worked. But, as noted above, this loyalty could sometimes be to the detriment of prioritising their own health and wellbeing.