French and scottish probation during the first lockdown. In search of the heart and soul of probation

Abstract

In March 2020 in response to the global pandemic, countries across Europe ordered businesses and offices to close and their citizens to stay at home. This paper is part of a wider investigation, which explores what happened to probation services in France and in Scotland during this time of national emergency. Qualitative interviews with 29 French and 27 Scottish probation staff took place during the initial lockdown, the authors wishing to capture the personal and organisational experience of practising probation at this unprecedented time. In this paper, the authors explore how probation staff in both countries responded to the news of the lockdown and how they adapted to working in these fundamentally altered circumstances. The paper explores what took place and therefore what is left of probation when the vast majority of what it usually entails becomes no longer possible. The study reveals similarities between the countries in how as human beings, probation staff responded to the pandemic and the imposition of the lockdown; it also uncovers differences in the practice that emerged, these differences reflecting the different historical roots of the two services and differences in the way that they are structured.

‘Lockdown probation leaders’ and Fundamental Human Needs

“…As immediate issues (health, safety, IT equipment and so on) were addressed, and service became more stable, managers then turned to continuity of service. They had to decide what constituted essential probation (Herzog-Evans and Sturgeon, 2022b), which needed to be salvaged. Part of the answer resided in determining where the priorities lay (Viglione et al, 2020), notably regarding risk levels and offenders’ needs.The amount of lists that we have is endless: from MAPPA lists to Caledonian [domestic abuse] lists, to high-risk lists… (M8)…”

“…The Covid-19 lockdown ripped up patterns of working that had been established for over a hundred years (Herzog-Evans and Sturgeon, 2022b; Martin and Zettler, 2022) and the lockdown of individuals and families in their homes meant that staff, including managers, had to be allowed to improvise. Indeed, a key TL competence attribute is flexibility and the need for flexibility appeared to be particularly salient during the lockdown.…”

“…As part of a wider study, focussing on both French and Scottish probation during the lockdown (Herzog-Evans and Sturgeon, 2022aSturgeon, , 2022b it was recognised that the role of managers in negotiating the lockdown and supporting staff was of critical importance and so, when the Scottish interviews began, we asked all our participants: 'what makes a good manager at a time like this? '…”

‘Challenging’ doesn’t sum it up: Exploring probation practitioners’ experiences managing high-risk individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…A series of studies conducted by Herzog-Evans and Sturgeon, 2022a, 2022b, 2022c interviewed PPs during the early stages of the COVID-19 lockdown. The first study explored how managers responded to PPs within Scotland.…”

“…They found that the best managers during a time of crisis such as this were the servant leaders who prioritise the fundamental human needs of their staff and reduce their level of uncertainty (Herzog-Evans and Sturgeon, 2022a). The other two studies (Herzog-Evans and Sturgeon, 2022b, 2022c) explored their personal and organisational experiences in a sample from Scotland and France. They found that in both jurisdictions, the majority of partner agencies were closed which meant that they could not provide the appropriate medical, mental health, or substance-use treatment for PoP as they normally would (Herzog-Evans and Sturgeon, 2022b).…”