A Sadly Familiar Thread

The last couple of days has triggered us to return to a sadly familiar thread and I think it's important to pull it together because I'm acutely aware many probation staff are currently under even greater stress. It began with this:-

My partner and I have made the decision for me to resign, after 24 years as a PO with numerous successful secondments, I have simply had enough. The change I have lived through is breath-taking and disturbing. I have seen inspirational POs, who never sought high office and whose professional curiosity was amazing to witness, marginalised and put down by young upstarts not in the slightest ashamed to voice their lofty ambitions. Bullying, racism and homophobia are now rife in an organisation that once was held up as a beacon of progressive professionalism and recognised internationally. My resignation is going in tomorrow morning and the sense of relief is beyond description, odd as it may sound I feel free.

Following yesterday, my notice is in. A very slow response from management, no doubt a huddle took place to formulate a response however one rather youthful SPO passed comment on “how difficult it must for you to adapt to change”. I bit my tongue. At 48 years of age she was young enough to be my daughter but really lacked the dignity of my children. This one moment just solidified my decision to leave. I feel unshackled, I feel free and I feel sadness. But my overriding feeling is of relief. As I speak my wonderful partner is cracking open a bottle of wine whilst she sings only now right now as I type do I realise how my probation frustrations were so visible to her. I respect and love her so much. I wish all of you the best and I have to express my utter admiration and respect to Jim for the legacy of your blog, you are truly a legend.

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The Weight of the Badge - A Personal Reflection on Nearly 20 Years in Probation:

As I approach two decades in the probation service, I find myself feeling more isolated than ever. In a role designed to foster rehabilitation, support, and second chances, it's ironic that I now feel in desperate need of those very things myself. Over the years, I’ve navigated countless changes, adapted to new policies, and checked boxes that seem to multiply by the day. But the toll of it all is undeniable.

I lead a team of dedicated officers who, despite their best efforts, are also feeling the strain. Together, we try to keep morale afloat, to stay motivated amid constant shifts, but the pressures from above – from the Head of Service and beyond – have become suffocating. It feels like we’re caught in an endless cycle of demands that never seem to let up, and each day leaves us running on fumes.

For over a year now, I’ve been covering more than one team, stretching myself thin in every direction. The demands of the job have drained me completely. Where there once was pride in the work, now there’s only exhaustion. Weekends don’t offer enough time to recover, and by Sunday, the anxiety of the week ahead sets in. Monday is a day filled with dread as I face another seemingly insurmountable five days.

I’m struggling. My anxiety is constant, and my depression has deepened. It feels like the joy has been sucked from my life. I’m left questioning how much longer I can keep going like this, trying to juggle the needs of my team, my own mental health, and the overwhelming weight of this job.

I share this not just as a personal release, but in the hope that others who feel similarly might realise they aren’t alone. Probation work is hard – harder than many understand – and we need to acknowledge the toll it can take on us all.

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I totally agree with the sentiments you express and I empathise with the dilemma you are in however merely acknowledging the problem will not make it go away. As has been said previously, and again by [others] there is ample evidence to support a private prosecution by the unions on the grounds of health and safety, but it is also up to individuals to do whatever is necessary to protect themselves and to safeguard their own well-being. Strategies have been outlined in the past but people, for various reasons feel obliged to keep turning the wheel despite it being obvious that nobody listens, nobody cares and nothing will change of its own volition. Simply making yourself ill or taking your frustrations home with you won’t change anything and you are unfortunately no better thought of. Do something positive to help yourself, even if it is going off sick or semi- retirement or taking a sabbatical and surveying your options.

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Hello Jim,

I resigned as a PO in June after joining the service initially as residential support worker in AP. I have met numerous brilliant people who are working within a broken organisation.

I trained as a PO with very much a focus on wanting to aid rehabilitation but found myself ground down by the corporate nature of senior management. A regional director likening his background as an investment banker to managing high risk offenders being an prime example.

The eagerness to recall and enforce rather than explore behaviour left me disillusioned and questioning the point of the job - I concur with a recent submission that the role has essentially an extension of custodial supervision. There is a culture of fear amongst frontline staff of being thrown under the bus by management if something goes awry.

I do not have all the answers but the culture needs to change to empower staff to make brave decisions and not revert to risk averse behaviour out of fear for their job.

Kind regards,
An ex PO

--oo00oo--

This is what many of us remember, but it seems the memory no longer extends to current management, but if it does, how can things have become so toxic in the workplace and why is nobody doing anything about it?

I missed this in 20/21... don't know if it made your blog, Jim, but it should hold a place in the archive:

https://www.butlertrust.org.uk/eve-chester/

"As I see it I am doing what I ought to do, work in a way that demonstrates my values and the values of the Probation Service I joined in 1982. [When I started] I was completely bowled over by the amazing staff I met at Hull Probation Office where I took up my first student placement. I work on the basis that we need to treat clients with respect. That doesn’t mean we admire all that they have done in life but we act on the basis that there are reasons why people behave as they do – blaming people for actions is not very productive – and the majority of people want to live lives where they can feel safe and valued. Most people do not care to work with others whom they perceive to be patronising, judging them and/or fault-finding.

“We do hear and see things as Probation staff that disgust or appal but if we want people to move on to live better, less harmful lives then we have to see people as a whole, not just the offence; where feasible, get beneath the behaviour (not ignore it) to understand if possible what it is about, the value and purpose of it to the client and integrate that with where that client wants to be as a person in the future and how to get there. If we want Probation clients to treat their family and fellow citizens with respect then we as staff supervising them, need to demonstrate that in how we treat them; we recognise the capacity to harm and also the capacity to move away from further harming. It also means discussing boundaries, we all have them and know how we dislike others’ attempts to breach them. I see my role in Probation is to address those breaches and to try and help people steer away from further similar behaviour.

“If a person’s behaviour harms people and if society values people, society needs to find ways of unravelling that purpose and helping re-channel that energy. What has taken years to develop isn’t going to dissolve over-night so one has to be patient and tempered. You have to withstand set-backs, client lapses, rejection. It’s a joint enterprise but the engine is the client. If their energy or will can’t be engaged, it’s a very slow process but still worthwhile. I’ve kept true to this approach of respect and looking for ways to connect because I have found it works; it engages most clients, works at a pace they can manage and keeps the majority out of re-offending. That sounds very simplistic but it requires considerable patience, willingness to keep fresh in thinking, attention to detail and adaptability. You can’t work this way on your own, you need good support from colleagues whether in Probation or linked agencies to share ideas, check out assumptions and access resources so you also need to be an adept advocate and team worker.”

Eve concludes with a personal recollection – and a vivid description of how she’s found her career:

“I hated it when as a child and young person I experienced personally or saw others, being ‘labelled’ or ‘written off’ so yes, I have a passion for challenging labels and negativity and I have found in Probation an amazing albeit demanding space in which to do this… It’s a career I have found fascinating, infuriating, wearying and stimulating but overall, incredibly worthwhile in seeing the majority of clients lighten up, move on, have families, handle lurch and sway to regain equilibrium and… stay out of trouble!”

Eve Chester