NCJ Number
107391
Journal
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: (1987) Pages: 163-177
Date Published
1987
Length
15 pages
Annotation
To increase understanding of the presentence investigation, this study develops a typology of probation officers who conduct these investigations.
Abstract
Data were developed from the author's 15 years of work experience as a probation officer and 1 year of qualitative interviewing of court personnel. Over 60 active and former probation offices in California, Louisiana, and Nevada were interviewed. The interviews focused on how presentence investigators view themselves and their coworkers and the relationship of these perspectives to specific kinds of work performance. The data were analyzed with the grounded theory approach (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). Investigator profiles fit the patterns of a 'team player,' who adheres to departmental policies, submits to supervisors, and avoids controversy; the 'mossback,' who displays a superficial job commitment by meeting minimum requirements and following departmental regulations; the 'hardliners,' who view themselves as bastions of order in an overly permissive world; and the 'bleeding heart liberals,' who view defendants as 'unwitting pawns' in an inequitable social system and themselves as the champions of the underdog. The 'maverick' searches for individual justice by assessing each case on its own merits. Given the varied subjective agendas under which the various types of probation officers construct presentence reports, the objectivity and usefulness of such reports must be seriously questioned. 44 references.