probation officer

toffuna101

ive been thinking about becoming a probation officer and did some research online. i found the national careers service website and searched for the role. i was greeted with the information i needed and i think the role really is worth it. ive been wanting to do something to do with criminology and psychology and as i stated in the future career post i would also like to do counselling or something to do with the mental health sector. my mind keeps on changing all of the time but those two subjects keep my options open.

Former Member

Hi, I think that it is great that you have career goals in mind and ambitions of how to reach them. I like how you have taken your own initiative and done some research online. I think that it is okay that your mind keeps changing, it is hard to know what you want to do with your life sometimes. But as you said the subjects you have in mind, keep your options open.

Is there something that draws you to being a probation officer? As well as possibly studying Criminology and Psychology?

Azziman

Hey @toffuna101, that sounds like a cool idea! Both criminology and psychology are great options with clear career options afterwards. It's also important to mention, you're welcome to switch careers at any time in the future if you have a change of heart - it's pretty common to so, with people switching between all different combinations of careers. So it's entirely possible that you could give both of them a go at different points in the future!

What draws you to the probation officer role as a future option?

toffuna101

the fact that i get to work with ex-offenders so they dont reoffend. i like crime and the criminal justice system as well as how the brain works and human behaviour.

ebyrne556

I’m sure you would be a great probation officer or whatever u choose u will be great at @toffuna101! Good luck with the process of starting it

Katie12

Those are great career ideas! and your right, having an interest in subjects like psychology and criminology really do keep your options open!

Gemma

Hey @toffuna101 it's so interesting that you're thinking about this! I studied Criminology as my undergraduate degree, and then Psychology of Mental Health as my Master's. So let me know if you have any questions about those courses

toffuna101

@Gemma what did you learn in your criminology degree?

Gemma

@toffuna101 I learnt quite a lot through my Criminology degree and did lots of different modules on crime, theories of crime and criminality, the criminal justice system, policing, violence, victims, gender and crime, penology (criminal punishments & prisons), media representations of crime, youth crime, crime in the city and urban areas, and I even took more specific modules like property crime.

My degree also had a research focus and so I took a lot of modules on research methods, including both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Through these courses we learnt how to conduct social research, write reports, and we did stats too. This all helped leading up to the third year dissertation where we had to conduct our own research project.

Hope this helps!

toffuna101

@Gemma ooh that sounds interesting. what i most like about criminology is youth crime since i get to research about how young people commit crime and why they do it. i did an openlearn course on youth crime actually and got a certificate and a badge at the end of it.

Gemma

@toffuna101 oh wow, well done! That's really great that you've already found an interest within criminology. I found youth crime to be a really interesting topic too - there's a lot of avenues you can go down with that too.