Program Profile: Empathic Supervision Intervention for Probation or Parole Officers

The brief intervention targeted probation and parole officers’ mindsets about adults on probation or parole. Its goal was to reduce rates of recidivism and violations among adults on probation or parole by promoting empathic perspectives among officers. The program is rated Promising. Recidivism rates were significantly lower for the treatment condition compared with the control condition, but the intervention did not significantly affect violations.

A Promising rating implies that implementing the program may result in the intended outcome(s).

This program's rating is based on evidence that includes at least one high-quality randomized controlled trial.

A Promising rating implies that implementing the program may result in the intended outcome(s).

This program's rating is based on evidence that includes at least one high-quality randomized controlled trial.

Program Goals/Program Theory

Research shows that a contributing factor of recidivism is the mindset or responsivity of probation or parole officers toward the individuals they supervise (Andrews and Bonta, 2010). Officers are regularly exposed to individuals on probation or parole, many of whom reoffend. As a result of frequent exposure, officers may begin to view all individuals on probation or parole as likely to reoffend. This process is known as “collective blame,” which occurs when members of an ingroup (i.e., probation and parole officers) blame all members of an outgroup (i.e., adults on probation or parole) for the acts of individual members of that group and therefore expect other outgroup members to commit similar acts (Okonofua et al., 2021). Negative perceptions about persons on probation or parole can hinder productive relationships between officers and those they supervise, which may result in increased rates of recidivism (Schaefer and Williams, 2018). Mindsets geared toward empathy may protect the relationship from psychological barriers and increase productive interactions (Okonofua et al., 2021).

The empathic supervision intervention was designed to reduce collective blame and render probation and parole officers more empathic toward adults on probation and parole, with the ultimate goal of reducing their violations and rates of recidivism.

Program Activities

The brief intervention involved a 30-minute exercise taken online by probation and parole officers in a computer laboratory setting at their workplace. Once in the lab, officers read targeted passages, then answered questions that strategically promoted empathy toward adults on probation or parole, valuing their perspectives, and maintaining quality relationships with them. Probation and parole officers were given an article that affirmed their critical role in ensuring adults on probation or parole met the conditions of their sentences.

To trigger their sense of purpose and induce feelings of empathy, survey questions were asked that centered on why they became a probation or parole officer and what parts of their work fulfilled them. Officers then read an article that emphasized the importance of creating mutually respectful relationships with adults on probation or parole, to make the officers more effective at meeting their needs. The article and activity aimed to encourage officers to recognize how feeling respected and heard could increase the motivation of adults on probation and parole to reintegrate back into the community.

To address overt and covert biases, officers were asked to read egregious cases in which 1) parole officers abused their power over those under their supervision and 2) adults on probation or parole broke the law. Following the first article, officers were asked how responsible all probation or parole officers were for the crime being depicted and how likely other officers were to commit the same offense. Following the second article, the officers were asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 100 how responsible all adults on probation and parole were for the crime of the one person being described and how likely other adults on probation and parole were to commit that same or similar crime.

At the end of the online module, officers were reminded of the core components of the module, asked to write about similar examples (i.e., write about how the work of probation and parole officers can feel impersonal), and asked to write a letter to a new probation and parole officer describing their experiences upholding the values and employing the techniques highlighted in the module. The intervention took on a “Saying is Believing” format, which allowed probation and parole officers to form a new mindset by allowing them to take ownership over the outcome mindset.

Study

Okonofua and colleagues (2021) used a longitudinal, randomized, placebo-controlled field experiment to test the impact of an empathic supervision intervention targeted at probation and parole officers (PPOs) on rates of violations and recidivism. The intervention took place at a correctional department in a large East Coast city. PPOs were told the purpose of the exercise was to collect data on PPOs’ perspectives about effective relationships with adults on probation or parole (APP) and to collect their advice to share with new PPOs. Those who consented to participate were randomly assigned to the treatment condition or control condition. Officers completed the 30-minute online module from a computer laboratory in their department. PPOs in the treatment and control conditions completed similar exercises in terms of form and interactivity. The only difference was that content in the treatment condition was about empathic supervision of APPs, whereas the content in the control condition was about using technology to be better organized.

The final sample consisted of 216 PPOs. Fifty-two percent were female, 45 percent were white, 42 percent were Black, 8 percent were Hispanic, 3 percent were other races/ethnicities, and 1 percent were Asian. The average years of experience as an officer in the department was 10. The 216 PPOs were supervising 20,478 APPs. Randomization and stratification techniques resulted in equalization in officers’ case types across treatment and control conditions. Condition comparison analyses indicated that there were no statistically significant differences between the PPOs in the treatment and control conditions on a variety of dimensions (e.g., size of caseload, type of caseload, presurvey measures, years of experience).

The primary outcomes of interest were violations and recidivism. Primary outcome data derived from official departmental records. The records provided numbers and rates for all APPs under each PPO’s supervision each month. Violations were measured as the percentage of APPs who potentially committed a direct violation to the terms of their probation or parole each month. Recidivism was measured by the percentage of APPs who were in custody in a correctional institution each month during the longitudinal experiment. Both within-subject (monthly official records for 10 months) and between-subject (treatment versus control) comparisons were conducted using growth curve models to assess the impact of the intervention on violations and recidivism. Because the records do not provide information (rates or demographics) for individual APPs, the study authors used aggregated monthly estimates from official departmental records collected and reported on an internal website each month. The study did not conduct subgroup analyses.

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

Andrews, Donald Arthur, and James Bonta. 2010. The Psychology of Criminal Conduct. Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England: Routledge.

Okonofua, Jason A., David Paunesku, and Gregory M. Walton. 2016. “Brief Intervention to Encourage Empathic Discipline Cuts Suspension Rates in Half Among Adolescents.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113(19):5221–26.

Schaefer, Lacey, and Gemma C. Williams. 2018. “The Impact of Probation and Parole Officers’ Attitudes About Offenders on Professional Practices.” Corrections 5(4):274–91.

Walton, Gregory M., and Timothy D. Wilson. 2018. “Wise Interventions: Psychological Remedies for Social and Personal Problems.” Psychological Review 125(5):617–55.