In this assignment, you continue in your role as a probation officer. The chief wants to continue her emphasis on empathy training. Now

CRJ322

Sample Scenario

Crime Committed and Causation

Probation Officer or Parole Officer Response

You are called to a local grocery store by a police officer on scene. Upon arrival, the police officer advised you that the store manager is holding a woman he claims tried to leave the store with a cart of groceries. You observe the cart is filled with loaves of bread, peanut butter, eggs, diapers, baby formula, cheese, etc. You know this woman since she is one of the probationers assigned to you. You know that she recently lost her job, and you have been working with her to secure another job. You also know that her financial status was tough before she lost her job and has gotten even worse. She tells you she didn’t know what else to do.

The suspect in this case has allegedly committed the crime of retail theft, or shoplifting. One explanation behind the cause of this offense is Robert Merton’s Strain Theory. According to Strain Theory, strain occurs when a gap exists between a person’s goals and the means by which they can achieve them. In this case, the woman’s goal is to feed her family; no money represents the lack of means. People adapt to their strain in a variety of ways. In this case, the woman adapted as an innovator. She came up with a different means to achieve her goal, although illegal.

You, as her probation officer, have discretion when it comes to a situation like this. You can violate her probation since she violated one of the terms (engaging in a criminal act) and you have the legal authority to have this arrested woman for the theft as well as violating her probation. However, that might not be the best choice of action. The probation officer could consider paying for the items for the woman so that she could feed her family. Alternately, the probation officer could offer information on other means to obtain food for her family such as churches or foodbanks.

Scenario 1

Crime Committed and Causation

Probation Officer or Parole Officer Response

You are going to your favorite convenience store for some coffee and donuts. Upon your arrival, the manager tells you a man that looks homeless is outside the store begging customers for money. The manager tells you he told the man to leave the property. The man wouldn’t leave and continues to harass customers.

When you go to speak with this man outside of the store, you recognize him as one your probationers. He is also a U.S. Army veteran suffering from PTSD because of combat during the Gulf War.

Scenario 2

Crime Committed and Causation

Probation Officer or Parole Officer Response

You are a parole officer, and you received a report that one of your parolees has failed to make their monthly payment on their court costs. You go to your parolee’s place of employment to speak with him, only to find out he no longer works there. You spoke with the manager, and he said he had to fire your parolee go because he was missing too many days of work.

You then go to your parolee’s house, which is his parents’ house. You ask him why he is no longer employed and why he didn’t notify you of this. He tells you he was afraid of getting in trouble since he lost his job, so he didn’t report this to you. He says that he has been missing work because there was no one at home to watch his younger brother and sister since both of his parents work during the day as well.

Scenario 3

Crime Committed and Causation

Probation Officer or Parole Officer Response

You are a probation officer, and you are assigned to a 15-year-old juvenile who has been truant from school on numerous occasions. You have met him and his mom, and he has agreed to attend school and do better as well, overall.

You received a call about a stolen bicycle, and it is discovered that the stolen bicycle’s owner tells you he saw who took it. He explains that he watched his neighbor, a 15-year-old juvenile, walk into the garage and wheel the bike out. This juvenile is your probationer mentioned above here.

You go to the juvenile’s home and speak to the 15-year-old juvenile and his mom. The juvenile explains that he did take the bike. He tells you he really wanted a bike; all his friends have bikes, and they are always riding off together without him. He further explains that he deserved the bike. He is doing well in school and never gets into trouble. He knows his mom can’t afford to buy him his own bike. He also tells you the bike’s owner never rode it. It just sat in the garage. He doesn’t think he’s hurting anyone.

Scenario 4

Crime Committed and Causation

Probation Officer or Parole Officer Response

You are a probation officer at the local high school. You are at the school during normal school hours when you receive a call from one of the math teachers. She informs you one of her female students is being very disruptive and disrespectful and needs to be removed from the class. When you arrive at the classroom, the teacher identifies the difficult student and asks you to remove her.

When you speak to the student, she ignores you. You make several attempts to engage the student, but she refuses to respond. You also notice she is gripping the desk with her hands to the point that her knuckles have turned white.

Scenario 5

Crime Committed and Causation

Probation Officer or Parole Officer Response

You are a parole officer, and you receive notice that one of your parolees has failed a drug test. You go to his house and ask him why he is using drugs again. He says that he has been having a difficult time trying to stop from using drugs again.

You know that drugs are highly addictive and sometimes, people have problems when they are trying to stop the use of them.

Scenario 6

Crime Committed and Causation

Probation Officer or Parole Officer Response

You are a parole officer, and you learn that one of your paroles hasn’t been attending their court order drug treatment programs. This is also stipulated in part of the terms of his parole. You then go to his place of employment to go over why he hasn’t been attending his court order drug treatment program.

He says that his work is shorthanded, and his supervisor has been asking him to work some extra hours. Since he can use the extra money, he has been working extra hours but these conflicted with his drug treatment programs.

Scenario 7

Crime Committed and Causation

Probation Officer or Parole Officer Response

You are a probation officer, and you are heading to a local coffee shop when you notice several juveniles standing on the street corner. You recognize one of them as being assigned to you, so you walk towards him. You clearly observe one juvenile (your probationer) hand the other money in exchange for a clear baggie containing a white powder. You announce yourself as a probation officer and tell them not to move. They begin to run and you give chase. You catch one of the juveniles (your probationer) and take him into custody without any further incident. You conduct a lawful search of the juvenile and find a wad of cash and 5 small clear baggies containing a white powder (later to be confirmed as cocaine). During your search, you also notice a tattoo on the juvenile’s neck that instantly tells you he is a member of the local gang.

Scenario 8

Crime Committed and Causation

Probation Officer or Parole Officer Response

One of your paroles has missed a scheduled appointment with you at your office. This isn’t the first time he has missed a scheduled appointment, so you go to his house. When you arrive, he is there, and he appears to be intoxicated. You know her terms of probation prohibit him from consuming any alcoholic beverages at any time.

You also know that his father is an alcoholic and was abusive to your parolee when he was growing up and he lived with his father.

Scenario 9

Crime Committed and Causation

Probation Officer or Parole Officer Response

You are doing a routine check of one of your probationers at his residence. When you arrive, you see that there are a few vehicles parked in or around his house that you do not recognize. When you go inside, you not only know your probationer, but you also recognize a few others that are local gang members and one of them is a convicted felon, currently on parole. One of the terms of his probation is to not associate with gang members and this is a clear violation. You know that your probationers’ father was also a gang member in his youth as was his older brother.

When you ask your probationer about this, he tells you that these two are family (cousins) and says that many of his family members were former gang members, so he is still close to them since they are family.