Ethical Standards and Management Practices in Human Services Role

This essay discusses the role of a probation officer within the human services field, emphasizing the importance of ethical standards and effective management practices. It outlines the responsibilities of a probation officer, including rehabilitation planning, supervision of social assistants, a...Read More

Running head: HUMAN SERVICES
Human Services
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

1HUMAN SERVICES
Human services are one of the few careers that provide opportunities to serve the society
and people in distress. After completing my graduation in Human Services, I wish to serve as a
probation officer. By opting for this career I will be able to serve the people who have done some
criminal offends (Abuse & Administration, 2016). The role of a probation officer is to plan and
implement proper rehabilitation for the criminal offenders. It can be noticed that these criminal
offenders include both minors and adults. In order to serve the society in a better manner and
plan effective rehabilitation programs for the offenders, I wish to work under the federal or state
government. Moreover, as a probation officer I need to supervise the social assistants and
counselors.
The day-to-day activity of a probation officer includes managing both high and low risk
offenders. Pre-sentence reports of these criminal offenders are to be sent to the court. In addition
to this, a probation officer is also in charge of protecting the common people (Trotter, 2015). In
this regard, collaboration with governmental entities, police, court and health services are
required. The mental health of these criminal offenders is also to be taken care of.
According to me the two most important ethical standards that are to be kept in mind
while serving as a probation officer are recognizing the system as the symbol of public faith and
to maintain objectivity while performing duties (Code of Ethics | FPPOA., 2018). As a system
and symbol of justice, the office is regarded as the place of utmost faith and public trust. A
probationary officer should work towards retaining the trust of the common people. Moreover,
maintaining an objective approach is required in the service.
In order to teach ethical standards to the employees, the primary step is building an
environment of cooperation and collaboration with fellow workers. Moreover, they should

2HUMAN SERVICES
practice integrity in their personal lives as well (Nelson & Trone, 2016). By maintaining the
integrity and decorum in their personal lives, the will be able to practice them in their
professional as well.
It can be understood that maintaining high ethical standards are highly important for the
professionals involved in human services. It can be said that complete awareness of the judicial
system, maintaining personal-professional decorum and cooperation are three major concerns of
ethical management (Higgins, 2017). To address these issues in an efficient manner, a probation
officer needs to adopt strategies of communication, building mutual trust and collaboration.
Moreover, training programs are to be arranged in order to make the employees aware of the
judicial systems.

3HUMAN SERVICES
Reference
Abuse, S., & Administration, M. H. S. (2016). 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
Code of Ethics | FPPOA. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.fppoa.org/page/code-ethics
Higgins, B. (2017). Reinventing human services: Community-and family-centered practice.
Routledge.
Nelson, M., & Trone, J. (2016). Why planning for release matters.
Trotter, C. (2015). Working with involuntary clients: A guide to practice. Routledge.