Scarica il documento - Dipartimento per la Giustizia Minorile

Dossier
young probationer and as a starting point for a conversation between the probationer and
the probation officers that needs to be updated regularly. May stresses, however, that these
standardized instruments should, in his opinion, only serve as a tool for supporting and
improving the transparency of the work with the probationer. He sees a real risk in that the
use of standardized instruments may be interpreted as a substitution to working directly
with the person, which he thinks would result in a reduction in the quality of probation
services. May argues that the same potential exists for the new approach to probation,
based on risk analysis, that Gerz promotes. May thinks that the ability to classify offenders
in accordance with the various risk groups limits the approach that will be then taken in
working with the probationer. He sustains that the classification of the offender in a single
category (1) creates obstacles to seeing the person as engaging in various and multiple
criminal actions in terms of the means of expression, but above all (2) hinders the ability
to individualize the interventions and work plan. overall, May’s view brings doubt into the
picture painted by Gerz about the future of risk analysis. this, however, does not mean
that the two cannot find a compromise in which one tries to improve upon the traditional
approach to probation through the implementation of these new instruments in order to
improve the efficiency of the services.
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