Publication: Social Work in Criminal Justice and Probation

Criminal justice social work and probation Author: PhDr. Martin Lulei, PhD.

The publication contains chapters such as probation in the context of criminal sanctions, probation programs, offender case management, motivational interviews, proposals and arguments for changes in probation practice in the Slovak Republic, etc.

INTRODUCTION

In 2002, as a full-time student in the field of social work, I read a brief text published in the Slovak daily press, which related to the strengthening of the powers of probation officers in the Czech Republic and their possibility of legal possession of weapons due to risky work. It was the period when I started as a social worker counseling victims of crimes within the civil association Help for Victims of Violence. That was my first contact with "probation". At the same time, it was a period when intensive work was being done within the department of the Ministry of Justice on pilot projects of probation and mediation in criminal matters. In counseling work with victims, I realized what it means in practice to be a victim not only of a criminal act, but also of criminal proceedings. How significantly does primary, secondary and tertiary victimization affect a person's (victim's) life, as well as the imbalance of the legal term "victim" compared to the term "victim", which victims of crimes perceived extremely sensitively. It was these thoughts and a few years later consulting work with the "other side", i.e. with perpetrators, then also with youth with behavioral disorders, together with the demand of students and the absence of scientific monographs on the given topic, that were significant stimuli for me to create this monograph.

The ambition of this publication is a critical analysis and synthesis of knowledge about social work in criminal justice and probation using my scientific and research work since 2004. I drew information from practice with victims and perpetrators, from international events, conferences, workshops and projects in which I personally participated, as well as from professional articles and research studies published in scientific databases such as Proquest, Science Direct, Springerlink and others. The task of the monograph is to offer readers an introductory or, in other words, "introductory" scientific-practical "knowledge base" in accordance with the latest trends in science and practice in the field of probation and social work in criminal justice. The presented publication is not a broadly focused superficial creative compilation, as there is a wide spectrum in the given field, but it is significantly differentiated from works of this nature by its narrow profiling of individual chapters and the scientific results of the research work. It is not structured like a textbook or a script, but like a scientific monograph, while it is necessary to study it in its entirety in order to grasp the issues and outputs. I see this monograph as a first step that will not bring answers to all questions (many questions related to the theory of social work in criminal justice as a type of social work are currently being created), but it presents scientific and practical impulses for the development of social work in criminal justice and probation. I am already aware that in the coming years, a series of independent publications will follow on my part in a brief scope, but on individual specific topics, such as electronic monitoring, probation programs, case management of offenders, meta-analysis of final thesis research focusing on probation and restorative justice, etc.

Regarding terminological aspects, it is necessary to emphasize that in the presented publication we use the term offender or punished person, and at the same time the term rehabilitation, which in Anglo-Saxon countries is equivalent to the term resocialization. I would be most happy if this publication were out of date in a few years and social work in criminal justice and probation practice in our country would be at a level corresponding to other member states in the European Union. I personally participated in several scientific events, projects and workshops organized by the European Probation Organization (CEP) or foreign scientific institutions (e.g. Institute of Criminology - Cambridge, Glasgow School of Social Work - Glasgow, DOMICE project - Copenhagen, etc.). Information from these events and at the same time the development of probation, e.g. in Latvia, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Turkey forced me to characterize the current state of probation in our conditions as a process of change not aimed at efficiency, but as a "status quo" with minor changes at the level of activities of individual district courts and probation and mediation officers. As a scientist, practitioner and university teacher, I often ask myself questions in connection with probation and social work in criminal justice, such as: "For what reason or why do colleagues from abroad present information about restorative justice or other theoretical concepts to us, and what effect will this have on the quality of practice in the field of social work in criminal justice and probation? Wouldn't it be more appropriate to focus attention, for example, on a probation program that works effectively abroad (and such programs is a lot of note a.) and bring something to the probation and mediation officers that has a direct reflection in their practice and implement this program? Or why do we not have a tool for measuring the rate of recidivism, which is a matter of course in other criminal policy systems, and why are the funds from the state budget (from our taxes) not invested in this area? What is the symbiosis of science and practice in the field of criminal justice and probation? conclusions from research in practice? Is probation and social work in criminal justice systematically coordinated in our conditions?". There are many such questions, and I consider questions of this type to be critical reflection and "amplification" for changes in the current state. If this publication helps in any way to develop the institute of probation in the Slovak Republic, it has fulfilled its purpose.

I planned the creation of this scientific monograph for two years. At this point, I need to emphasize the excellent quality of the students' final theses, which in my view significantly pushed the boundaries of knowledge in this issue and should not remain unnoticed (1). It is therefore impossible not to mention the fact that, as a university teacher, I was also influenced by the topics and annotations of the works I assigned to students, while some of them (especially the quality of their processing by excellent students) I still consider to be groundbreaking.

For long-term inspiration in the field of social work in criminal justice, my personal thanks go to Leo Tigges from CEP, prof. Mike Nellis and prof. To Ferguss McNeill of the Glasgow School of Social Work. Last but not least, I thank doc. PhDr. Milan Tomek, PhD., head of the Department of Social Work and Social Sciences of the University of Konstantin Filozof (KSPaSV UKF) in Nitra and doc. PaedDr. Miroslav Tvrdon, PhD., Vice-Rector of UKF, who supported me for a long time in the creation of this scientific monograph. It is also impossible to deny a significant "shift" in the scientific quality of the monograph thanks to the reviewer prof. PhDr. to Peter Ondrejkovič, DrSc. and doc. PhDr. Gabriele Lubelcova, PhD., whose constructive comments gave this publication another dimension. For help with technical processing and language proofreading, I thank Ing. to Ľudovít Terlanday, Mgr. Jane Gabrielová from KSPaSV UKF and Mgr. Bernadette Bubeníková.

(1) Eg. B.Sc. Barbora Bitterová – Forensic social work – foreign trends and the current situation in the Slovak Republic (2011), Bc. Emil Fábry – Offender evaluation systems (2011), Mgr. Gabriela Moravčíková – Probation and social work – historical origins and connections (2010) and others AUTHOR

PhDr. Martin Lulei, Ph.D. - university teacher currently working at the Department of Social Work and Social Sciences UKF in Nitra. Profile-wise, it focuses on the theory of social work and social work in criminal justice. He published more than 30 professional and scientific works in the Slovak Republic and abroad (France, Romania, Czech Republic, Holland, Poland). In 2010, he was a member of the expert group of the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic at the Government Council for the Prevention of Crime, which focused on youth crime. Since 2005, he has participated in several professional events and foreign mobilities and internships (Glasgow School of Social Work, Criminology Institute in Cambridge, etc.). At the same time, he is a graduate of short-term psychotherapy training and further certified education in various areas with target groups of social work in the scope of more than 400 hours. In the previous period, he practically focused on work with victims of crimes (civic association Pomoc obetiem nília), social counseling and work with youth with behavioral disorders (civic association Maják). In the years 1998-2001, he worked as a volunteer in the organization Leonard Cheshire Homes (England), where he worked with clients with various types of disabilities (e.g. multiple sclerosis). He is currently participating in 3 Slovak (UGA, VEGA) and 3 multinational projects (ISRD-3, GRUNTVIG, DOMICE).

The most important of his publications can be considered: Martin Lulei: Current Developments of Probation and Social Work in Slovakia - Theoretical Enthusiasm and Practical Skepticism, 2010. In. Revista de Assistant Sociala. - ISSN 1584-5397, Vol. 9, no. 3 (2010), p. 59-68. Martin Lulei: Prevention in the family, 2010. In. Transnational Criminology Manual. - Nijmegen : Wolg Legal Publishers, 2010. - ISBN 9789-90-5850-5590, Vol. 3. - p. 155-168. Martin Lulei, Ľudovít Galbavý : Slovakia, 2008. In. Probation in Europe. - Nijmegen : Ministry of justice of the Netherlands, 2008. - ISBN 978-90-5850-450-0, p. 937-966.

CONTENT

1 SOCIAL WORK IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE 1.1 Outline of the theoretical starting points and field of action of social work in criminal justice 1.2 Social work in criminal justice - networking and synergy 1.3 What Works and Evidence Based Practice in the context of social work in criminal justice

2 PROBATION IN THE CONTEXT OF CRIMINAL SANCTIONS 2.1 Historical origins and modifications of criminal sanctions 2.2 Restorative justice and probation 2.3 Interdisciplinary dimension of probation, crime prevention and social work in criminal justice

3 TRENDS AND PERSPECTIVES OF PROBATION 3.1 Probation programs and evaluation of probation practice 3.2 Alternative Penalties 3.3 Electronic monitoring 3.4 Specialized forms of probation with a focus on specific target groups 3.5 Offender case management

4 SYSTEMS, ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITY OF PROBATION SERVICES IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC AND ABROAD 4.1 Selected aspects of strategic goals, tasks, systems and determinants of the effectiveness of probation services 4.2 Legislation and current practice of probation in the Slovak Republic 4.3 Prerequisites for exercising the profession of a probation officer

5 METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF PARDON WORK WITH PERPETRATORS OF CRIMINAL OFFENSES 5.1 Tools for predicting the recidivism of criminals and criminological profiling 5.2 Motivational interview

6 PROBATION AND REALIZED RESEARCH IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC AND ABROAD 6.1 Conclusions of research and studies

7 PROPOSALS AND ARGUMENTS FOR CHANGES IN PAROLE PRACTICE IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC 7.1 Code of Ethics and Standards 7.2 Working conditions and evaluation 7.3 Association of Probation and Mediation Officers or the Slovak Institute of Probation and Social Work in Criminal Justice 7.4 Thematization of research needs in the theory and practice of social work in criminal justice

Name: SOCIAL WORK IN CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PROBATION CRIMINAL JUSTICE SOCIAL WORK AND PROBATION Author: PhDr. Martin Lulei, PhD. Cover photo: Mgr. Erik Papp (LNMS) Format: A5 Extent: 136 pages Publisher: University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra Year of publication: 2011 ISBN 978-80-8094-945-5