Historically, probation officers have served in both rehabilitative and law enforcement roles, particularly in juvenile probation. In a rehabilitative role, the probation officer serves as a social worker, a counselor whose primary concerns are generally in the best interests of the offender. In this role, a probation officer must know how to interview, how to obtain facts about an offender's background, how to identify and distinguish surface from underlying problems, what community resources exist, and how to make referrals to those resources. However, in his or her law enforcement role, the probation officer is a controlling agent, an authoritarian figure, a threat to the offender's parole. The dual role of probation is evident in the classic definition: “Probation aims to protect the community through the rehabilitation of the offender. » Given these conflicting roles, today's probation officer is more likely to emphasize supervisory and control functions, granting community protection a higher priority than rehabilitation. . I wonder: When probation officers encounter offenders, what should they do? Sure, there are bureaucratic tasks to complete, paperwork to fill out, or maybe a drug test to watch for. But the more important question is whether, during the often limited monitoring meetings, officers or I can do anything to reduce the risk of offenders re-offending. , can contribute to ineffective supervision practices. In the past, many agents have been unable to do anything other than take a “wee and see” approach. Additionally, perhaps in the middle of the document......specifically how interactions between officers and offenders can potentially be used to reduce recidivism. As I mentioned previously, research shows that officers can have a positive impact on their supervisees' risk of recidivism if they build quality relationships with them and are trained to use sound principles in their sessions. The methodology of probation officers in their interaction with their probationers should remain an area of ​​research in corrections in the future. Perhaps by calling for the development of a “supervision toolkit,” as part of systematic efforts to explore how to expand the resources officers can draw on for supervision. I believe this endeavor could promise to improve offenders' chances of avoiding further criminal involvement and improve public safety. We should never stop in our quest to rehabilitate offenders in our communities that we serve and protect..