Parole Work in Canada: Tensions in Supervising People Convicted of Sex Crimes

• Published date: 01 December 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X221144285
• Author: Rosemary Ricciardelli,Micheal Taylor,Katharina Maier,Dale C. Spencer
• Date: 01 December 2023
• Subject Matter: Articles

https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X221144285

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2023, Vol. 67(16) 1699 –1721

© The Author(s) 2023

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X221144285

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Article

Parole Work in Canada:

Tensions in Supervising

People Convicted of Sex

Crimes

Rosemary Ricciardelli1, Micheal Taylor1,

Katharina Maier2, and Dale C. Spencer3

Abstract

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.

Keywords

institutional/community parole work, sex offender supervision, occupational sex

offender programming, parole occupational stress, rehabilitation, desistance

1Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Canada

2University of Winnipeg, MB, Canada

3Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Corresponding Author:

Rosemary Ricciardelli, School of Maritime Studies, Fisheries and Marine Institute, Memorial University of

Newfoundland, W3023, 155 Ridge Road, St. John’s, NL A1C 5R3, Canada.

Emails: rricciardell@mun.ca; rose.ricciardelli@mi.mun.ca

1144285IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X221144285International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyRicciardelli et al.

research-article2023

1700 International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 67(16)

Introduction

Correctional work, in prison and in the community, is riddled with tensions, including

those resulting from job stress. In the current article, job stress refers to the relation-

ship between the Parole Officer (PO) as a person versus the demands of their work or

occupation as a job (Sur & Ng, 2014, p. 81). Specifically, we are concerned with the

tension that can arise between the person and the job when supervising particular

criminalized populations—in our case, people convicted of sex crimes (PCSCs). To

our knowledge, scholars have only started to unpack tensions—that are often contra-

dictory in nature—which exist in PO occupational work, in general, and PO work that

involves responsibility for the successful community reintegration of people labeled

criminally as PCSCs, specifically. We refer to tension as a state of being tightly

stretched—liminal in essence—in terms of moral or emotional conflict, recognizing

POs experience stress due to adverse and demanding realities inherent to their occupa-

tional work (Brough & Williams, 2007; Owen, 2006; Patterson, 1992; Ricciardelli

et al., 2022). In the current exploratory study, we draw on interviews and two focus

groups that resulted in a sample of 150 Canadian POs to unpack the tensions around

the supervision of PCSCs. The study, however, remains exploratory as the key focus

was on POs’ occupational stress injuries rather than their experience supervising

PCSCs. The theme of PCSCs arose organically from the data when probed about if

they had experiences overseeing PCSCs or when speaking about occupational stress,

potentially psychologically traumatic event exposures, or their occupational work

more broadly.

Specifically, we seek to understand how rehabilitative factors and orientations can

be stymied by correctional systems and societal perceptions, which stand in tension

with promoting well-being for PCSCs while navigating the processes deemed neces-

sary for maintaining public safety. This is to say that the interpretations of and disposi-

tions toward PCSCs in Canadian society and the criminal justice system, respectively,

hinder POs delivery of rehabilitative services to PCSCs. This is compounded by ten-

sions between PO efforts to maintain a rehabilitative orientation versus the challenges

experienced when reading casefiles or the insufficient availability of services and pro-

grams for PCSCs on release versus navigating the stigma with which PCSCs live. We

ponder these challenges of supervising PCSCs as tension as well, referring here to

tensions in, for example, assessments of PCSCs risk classification versus perceived

propensity for desistance and how both shape the public safety responsibilities of POs.

Moreover, we recognize the impacts of some forms of sex crimes and appreciate that

these crimes are not palatable for some POs, which creates a tension around who a

person is versus what they did.

The images of PCSCs in our society evoke persons who cannot be trusted because

they violated societal norms, thereby becoming an “outsider” (Becker, 1963). Being

publicly villainized, labeled as sick, and deeply discredited as a person, we understand

the socially constructed PCSC term to mean someone that has doubly offended sexual

mores of civic society that evokes feelings of anger, shame, and disgust and is sym-

bolic of the most hated group of criminalized people (Ricciardelli, 2017, pp. 2–3). This