Documented Essay on the Career as a Juvenile Probation Officer in California (Essay Sample)

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20th March 2013
Documented essay on the career as a juvenile probation officer in California
On the completion of my education, I would like to work as a juvenile probation officer. The basic requirement that anyone requires to become s juvenile probation officer includes a four year bachelor’s degree in psychology, criminology and criminal justice, social work or sociology. The majority of juvenile probation officers have effective communication skills accompanied by good verbal skills (Eva, 67). To be an effective juvenile probation officer, a person must possess the skills of effective multi-tasking; the probation officers have to handle different roles and tasks at the same time such as filing a case while still attend and arresting the juvenile offenders. Further, the job requires the skill of being able to handle a large number of caseload simultaneously. The general job description of a juvenile probation officer involves the ability to perform a variety of tasks. Firstly, the juvenile probation officers are required to supervise the juvenile offenders in probation while subsequently compiling the necessary requirements for the juveniles to join probation. Secondly, the juvenile probation offices are responsible for detaining and arresting the young juveniles who get charged of various criminal offenses (Michael, 90). They have to physically arrest the juveniles and transport them to the area of detainment.
After the detainment, the juvenile probation officers have to explain and provide a list of legal rights that the offenders are entitled to. In doing this, the juvenile probation officers must effectively apply their verbal and communication skills in giving proper interpretation of the legal rights to the juvenile offenders. Further, the job description of the juvenile probation officer extends to placing the delinquent juveniles in their respective detention centers. Proper understanding of the legal system in the juvenile centers will be very helpful to the juvenile probation officers; they are required to frequently give their respond to the daily referrals and the daily on-calls given in regard to the individual juvenile by the schools that the juvenile attend , social service departments or the law enforcement agencies (Dan,25).
The officers must effectively evaluate the behavior of the juveniles while monitoring their progress to the probation process. Consequently, they must give their respond by making frequent visits to the juvenile homes and schools. They further have to make informal conferences regarding the progress of the juveniles with their parents or guardians. The juvenile probation officer must further present and file cases in regard to the juvenile misconduct through the juvenile courts. They must give their reports and recommendations regarding the behavior and the appropriate disciplinary action to the juvenile courts handling particular cases. The job of a juvenile probation officer also requires constant patient and emotional control from the officers/. They have to work in a hostile environment characterized by chaotic behavior of the juveniles together with the resentment they may constantly give the rehabilitation process. The juvenile probation officers must constantly control the juveniles through physical means. Many of the juveniles constantly experience emotional breakdowns, try to vent out their resentment to any form of punishment by acting out and venting emotions to the juvenile probation officers together with the other juveniles in probation. The environment in the juvenile is characterized by much hostility from both the juvenile offenders and their families.
I would like to become a juvenile probation officer soon after I complete my degree in criminology. I expect to graduate four years after I complete the degree. Before I complete my undergraduate degree, I would like to major in a course of Correction and juvenile Delinquency so as to fully complete the education requirement for the job. The course will be very helpful in my career and in enabling me to understand the psychology behind juvenile delinquency. On the other hand, I am fully aware that due to lack of experience in the field of juvenile probation, I will have to work as a volunteer while in college and take up jobs in lower level in the juvenile correction facility so as to gain the experience that is needed to qualify as a juvenile probation officer. To fulfill my dream of becoming a juvenile probation officer, I might try to become an employee of a juvenile correctional facility. Subsequently, being a staff of the correction facility, I will take up the opportunity of new vacant positions in the facility. Further, I will send my application in paroles and adult probations since am fully aware that expertise and experience are crucial in the fruitful achievement of a successive legal or criminal justice profession. I will dedicate myself in working all the way up the positions and ranks of juvenile officers and become a crucial element of the agency I get employed in. At present I plan to complete several practicum’s for my degree in California College. The practicums will be very essential in orienting me with the necessary skills for the juvenile probation officer career. My present school has been very essential in orienting me with the necessary skills to work with the juvenile offenders and in the environment of the detention area. Consequently, my education has fully introduced me to the criminal justice field and to the specific field of juvenile justice. I have also been given a rare opportunity to closely work and monitor the juveniles’ offenders.
On completion of my practicum, I am sure I will be in a more comfortable position to achieve the goals of the career I have personally chosen. I hope to work in different juvenile facilities during the practicum so as to get fully oriented with the environment in the different juvenile centers. A key intrinsic motivator that has motivated my choice in a career in a juvenile correction facility as the probation officer is that I want to have an impact in the world and in people’s lives. I want to leave a mark and make a difference in transforming people’s lives. Though it is not a big stride in transforming the whole world, I think my work will be significant in positively transforming the field of juvenile justice. Key components of this world are the children and the younger generation; they are the future of our individual communities, the state of California and the world at large. In order to safely secure a better future for our communities and California, we must address th...