title: Walking the line: specialized and standard probation officer perspectives on supervising probationers with serious mental illnesses.
abstract: Specialized probation programs were developed to more effectively address the unique needs of probationers with serious mental illnesses. Probation officers are tasked with serving both law enforcement and rehabilitative functions, and officers play an important gatekeeper function in helping probationers with serious mental illnesses avoid long incarceration sentences. The purpose of this paper was to explore specialized and standard probation officers' work in supervising probationers with serious mental illnesses. Twenty-one probation officers (11 specialized and 10 standard) participated in semi-structured interviews. Qualitative analyses examined: 1 - beliefs on the relationship between mental illness and crime; 2 - purpose of specialized and standard probation units; and 3 - approaches to supervising probationers with serious mental illnesses. Implications for developing more effective probation supervision programs are discussed.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, 969 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. Electronic address: mepperson@uchicago.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Epperson
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Missouri, 706 Clark Hall, Columbia, MO 65211-4470, USA.
authors.forename: Kelli
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Canada
authors.affiliation: School of Social Service Administration, University of Chicago, 969 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.affiliation: Loyola University, Chicago, Sullivan Center, 1032W. Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60660, USA.
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lurigio
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D035846:Law Enforcement; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Probation; Probation officer; Serious mental illness; Specialized probation