‘“It’s relentless”: The impact of working with primarily high-risk offenders’: A practitioner response

DOI10.1177/0264550517692058
AuthorRosie Lee
Published date01 March 2017
Date01 March 2017
Subject MatterPractitioner responses
Practitioner response
‘“It’s relentless”: The
impact of working
with primarily
high-risk offenders’:
A practitioner response
Rosie Lee
National Probation Service (North West), Stockport, UK
Abstract
This piece is a response to Phillips, Westaby and Fowler’s article ‘“It’s Relentless”: The
Impact of Working with Primarily High-Risk Offenders’. Their research considers the
pressure felt by practitioners supervising a predominantly ‘high-risk’ caseload due to
increased public protection responsibilities and organizational failure to provide
guidance as to prioritization of risk and need. This response further explores the
emotional impact of supervising a high-risk caseload. This is discussed in reference to
the case manager’s ability to engage with a client’s personal experiences of trauma
within an organizational culture, which prioritizes public protection and concern for
the potential for something to ‘go wrong’. It is argued supervisory support is inade-
quate and additional resources should be focused on practitioners’ need to reflect on
the emotional impact of working with a high-risk caseload.
Keywords
high risk, offender management, organizational change, probation, supervision,
transforming rehabilitation
Corresponding Author:
Rosie Lee, National Probation Service (North West), Salford Probation Office, 2 Redwood Street, Salford
M6 6PF, UK.
Email: rosielee1985@gmail.com
The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice
Probation Journal
2017, Vol. 64(1) 50–55
ªThe Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0264550517692058
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