Internationally, parole work is loaded with tensions, particularly when supervising a people convicted of sex crimes (PCSCs) who, due to their criminal history, are stigmatized and occupy the lowest rungs of the status hierarchy in prison and society more broadly. Drawing on analyses of interview data from federal parole officers ( n = 150) employed by Correctional Service Canada, we interpret their perceptions and feelings about overseeing re-entry preparations and processes for the PCSCs on their caseloads. We unpack the “tensions” imbued in parole officers’ internal reflections and negotiation of complexities in their efforts toward supporting client’s rehabilitation efforts, desistance from crime while negotiating external factors (e.g., the lack of available programming), and being responsible for supervising PCSCs. We highlight facets of occupational stress parole officers experience, finding PCSCs may be more compliant when under supervision but may also require more of a parole officer’s resources, including time and energy. We put forth recommendations for greater empirical nuance concerning parole officer work and their occupational experiences and beliefs about PCSC, particularly as related to parole officer health.
Based on 6 years of probation practitioner experience in a metropolis of Canada, I provide an autoethnographic account reflecting on my fieldwork as I now commence doctoral studies. Contributing to discussions of experience in the penal atmosphere, I explore personal ethics and values, looking specifically to LSI-R software, where my experience with risk-based programming indicates a subjugation of both supervisees and supervisors. Studying penal aesthetics within the version of the software I used to assess criminogenic risk thus elucidates why evaluators tend to score their risk ratings upward rather than downward. Implications for a desistance paradigm are juxtaposed to the RNR model of offender management, where sensing visual and haptic stimuli pertains to an algorithmic governance mode limiting human connection. I conclude by reflecting on organisational values and behaviour to indicate where therapeutic alliances with criminalised people intersect criminalisation and desistance.
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