title: Probation's role in offender mental health.
abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how the role in offender mental health for the probation service described in policy translates into practice through exploring staff and offenders' perceptions of this role in one probation trust. In particular, to examine barriers to staff performing their role and ways of overcoming them. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative secondary analysis of data from semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 11 probation staff and nine offenders using the constant comparative method. Findings Both staff and offenders defined probation's role as identifying and monitoring mental illness amongst offenders, facilitating access to and monitoring offenders' engagement with health services, and managing risk. Barriers to fulfilling this role included limited training, a lack of formal referral procedures/pathways between probation and health agencies, difficulties in obtaining and administering mental health treatment requirements, problems with inter-agency communication, and gaps in service provision for those with dual diagnosis and personality disorder. Strategies for improvement include improved training, developing a specialist role in probation and formalising partnership arrangements. Research limitations/implications Further research is required to explore the transferability of these findings, particularly in the light of the recent probation reforms. Originality/value This is the first paper to explore how staff and offenders perceive probation's role in offender mental health in comparison with the role set out in policy.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Social Care, University of Lincoln , Lincoln, UK.
authors.forename: Coral
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sirdifield
authors.affiliation: College of Social Science, University of Lincoln , Lincoln, UK.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Owen
mesh_terms: D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015897:Comorbidity; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D020380:Needs Assessment; D015995:Prevalence; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011330:Prisons / Q000592:standards*; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D014852:Wales / Q000453:epidemiology; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: Mental health; Offender health; Probation service; Qualitative research; Qualitative secondary analysis; Transforming rehabilitation