Serving law and justice is not something alien to 33-year-old Pavenpreet Singh, a Probation Services Officer from Slough. Her grandfather was a police officer, so she grew up hearing about the criminal justice system and how his work contributed to society. Nevertheless, coming from a South Asian Punjabi family meant her applying for this role had its share of challenges within her extended family. They were initially reluctant as they didn’t know what it would be like for a young South Asian female to work closely with people coming out of prison. But hinting early at the resilience that is so required in her job, she overcame their fears with the help of her siblings who continue to support her in progressing within her current role. Today, she enthusiastically supports HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS)’s drive to fill several Probation Service roles, from case administrators to trainee probation officers. Asian Voice spoke to her about how she joined the Probation Service eight years ago at 25, what her learning curve within the system has been like, and how exactly she works within it to contribute to society and help people.
Beginnings of Pavenpreet’s journey as a PSO
Speaking about her educational background, Pavenpreet told us, “I decided to study criminology at university because I thought it sounded interesting and would lead me to a job where I could help people in the community and protect the public. While studying, I did some small jobs to get some extra money. It was mostly retail and I continued to work these jobs after graduating for around 2 years while actively searching for opportunities within the sector I was interested in. I was delighted to land a job in the Probation Service in 2014 and my degree provided me with useful context to the role.”
As the Probation Service focuses on a certain skillset, for Pavenpreet, her successful recruitment was only the beginning of a long journey. “The application process was quite straightforward. I had to take a few behaviour- and experience-based tests and then got invited for a role-play interview, which was an interesting experience. My criminology degree helped me, but you don’t actually need any particular experience or qualifications to join the Probation Service as a probation services officer, except GCSEs or other evidence of numeracy and literacy. We’re looking for people from a wide range of backgrounds.”
The job of the PSO on the go
The PSO role is varied, and the recruit’s function depends on the requirements of the local team. The PSO can work in sentence management or the personality disorder programme, as a court officer, a victim liaison officer or a programme facilitator, or be in the pre-release team. Pavenpreet's work mostly comprises meeting with offenders for face-to-face sessions, dealing with referrals, writing reports and risk assessments, gathering information, and collaboratively working with statutory agencies in the community. It’s challenging work but also rewarding for her, and every day is different. She said, "We are working with people with complex needs which can be challenging at times. Whilst we are here to enforce Court Orders, we also have to find a solution best suited to the individual to address the risk factors that leave them vulnerable to offending, alongside protecting the public. Given some peoples’ experiences, engaging with them can be difficult, to begin with, but we have to persevere and build a rapport for effective work to be done.”
The challenges and risks
Pavenpreet is practical about the risks in the job. “The purpose of probation is to assess risk and to manage that risk. This is done by having restrictive factors in place, having some level of monitoring and control, completing relevant interventions and providing the individual with the support that would reduce that risk. If things do begin to decline, we have a contingency plan in place.
From the very beginning of their journey, every effort is made to build a rapport with the person on probation and we collaboratively work together to ensure the person understands their risk factors and that they are aware of protective factors too, which is something they tend to forget once they enter the criminal justice system. Key to the process is that the person on probation understands the importance of complying with their risk management plan, which includes a contingency plan consisting of enforcement actions. It’s all about creating awareness and putting some responsibility on them to comply with their court order and engage with their sentence plan with the view to reduce the risk of re-offending.”
And what if she is mistaken in assessing the risks, considering the stakes involved?
“I believe it is not effective to think about unsuccessful cases as ‘failures’ for anyone who works within the probation service. The Probation Service can only do so much in managing risk in terms of providing opportunities and support to offenders. It is always the responsibility of the person to change their behaviour and we work really hard as a service to support people with this.”
Resilient indeed. So, is there anything that she finds intimidating as a PSO? How does she feel while sitting down at the same table and chalking out a new life for a murderer or a rapist?
Pavenpreet has it all laid out. “While working with offenders, there will always be challenges probation staff have to face. Some cases are trickier, but they are usually also the ones that are the most rewarding. Despite this, I do enjoy working with offenders. As for the most serious offences, as a PSO you won’t necessarily be working with them until they are a lot further down into their probation journey, whereby they have completed relevant offence-focused interventions and their risk has significantly been reduced. Until such times, they will remain with a qualified probation officer.”
Pavenpreet’s take on South Asian offenders
Finally, we asked her whether in the course of her job she observed anything in particular in the South Asian community.
“I have not noticed any particular trends or pattern of offending behaviour within the South Asian community. When I am allocated a case, I like to see the person on probation for who they are and understand why they did what they did. We can then work together with them to prevent further offending by engaging them in rehabilitative work.”
And even after everything, their own communities may not be very open to a convict coming back and trying to start a new life, which is why the PSO needs a detailed picture of the springboard from which the offender can restart their life after their release, Pavenpreet told us. “Completing pre-sentence reports is also an essential task within the Probation Service, where risk assessments are completed on the individual to guide the court on appropriate sentences around whether the risk can safely be managed in the community. We as a service acknowledge diversity, equality, inclusion and belonging, and use this to help engage offenders to ensure their risk is being managed effectively. The services we work with to rehabilitate people, also promote these same values and principles, therefore everyone is treated fairly regardless of their ethnicity.”
Pavenpreet’s note to the reader:
If you’re interested in joining the Probation Service I’d recommend looking on our website. There are a range of roles available from case administrators and probation services officers like myself, through to the trainee probation officer programme where you qualify as a probation officer: https://probationjobs.co.uk/
