Building and Sustaining a Resilient Workforce

Abstract

This chapter opens with a review of the nature and extent of the impact upon workers in the criminal justice system associated with working with people convicted of sexual offences. It then elaborates upon the concept of resilience by considering three alternative models of the development and maintenance of resilience. Resilience is characterised as a desirable outcome which results from the interaction of individual, organisational and peer-related factors, as opposed to being a fixed quality inherent within an individual worker.This chapter considers how recent developments in the organisation of Probation work, as a result of the Transforming Rehabilitation reforms, may impact the resilience of individuals and teams working with people convicted of sexual offending. This is informed by the findings of the SPORE research project, which investigated resilience across participating European Probation Services. There is also consideration of the impact upon workers and organisations of operating in a society which is largely characterised by hostile and punitive attitudes towards those convicted of sexual offending.The chapter then considers steps which can be taken to promote resilient outcomes for workers, at the level of the individual, the organisation, and the wider societal context. There is an emphasis on the complex circular relationships between these different levels.