Parole Work in Canada

Parole officers (POs) support rehabilitation and desistance but face mental health challenges and occupational stressors. Parole Work in Canada provides novel insight into the occupational routines, mental health impacts, and identities of this oft-overlooked group of correctional workers. The authors conducted 150 interviews with POs employed in Canada’s federal correctional system and traverse prison and community spaces in their analyses. They also examined how workplace culture and relationships affect POs’ well-being, provide implications for occupational routines created by COVID-19; interrogate organizational structures, culture, and practice; and unpack how POs understand carceral space, self-presentation, and the tensions between supervising and supporting criminalized people.

Rosemary Ricciardelli is professor and research chair in Safety, Security, and Wellness at the Fisheries and Marine Institute at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Elected to the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, her research centers on evolving understandings of gender, vulnerabilities, risk, and experiences and challenges within different facets of the criminal justice system.

Mark Norman is an assistant professor in Human Kinetics at St. Francis Xavier University. He was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow Memorial University of Newfoundland and McMaster University. His research interests include the occupational experiences of criminal justice workers and sport, physical activity, and incarceration.

Katharina Maier is an associate professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Winnipeg. Her work focuses on punishment and penal supervision, drugs and homelessness, and the intersections between criminal justice and public health work.

Micheal P. Taylor is a PhD candidate and works as a research assistant in the Ocean and Public Safety Laboratory at Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Marine Institute. His studies focus on human factors and public safety professionals while investigating responsivity and penal efficacy. He draws on his public safety work as a provincial probation and parole officer (2016-2022).