Madam, - The probation officers' branch of Impact is not surprised or shocked by the findings of the UCD Institute of Criminology ("Quarter of prisoners back in jail within year of release", The Irish Times,December 6th).
Our members who work in custodial and community settings know that change happens through a positive learning environment. While recognising that prison should be the last resort, we call for a clear structure of positive sentence management in prisons. A person entering custody should know within the first few days of being sentenced how their time in prison will be managed. Factors that have caused the person to offend should be identified and targeted.
Positive sentence management plans would help prisons to become places of rehabilitation. Change towards a law-abiding lifestyle can only occur in a system which addresses criminal attitudes and offers education and training. Our members are an excellent resource that should not be overlooked. Probation officers run rehabilitation programmes and help prisoners to lower their risk of reoffending. As the criminologist Paul O'Mahony observed this week, this is done despite a low level of funding for the Probation Service. The addition of positive sentence management would increase the effectiveness of the good work that is being carried out by our members.
Impact also recommends a stronger emphasis on periods of post-release supervision for offenders leaving custody. Probation officers' intervention at this point can be most effective. Offenders who are supervised on leaving custody are less likely to reoffend. Providing extra resources and initiatives for the Probation Service would reduce the rates of recidivism. - Yours, etc,
ÁINE MORRIS, Probation Officers' Branch, Impact, Dublin 1.