Field Visits

Field visits are an intrinsic component of community corrections and involve community corrections professionals supervising the offender in the community and visiting the offender at his or her residence, place of employment, school, or other agency setting (such as his substance abuse treatment meeting or anger management course) to ensure the offender's compliance with the terms and conditions of probation, parole, or other community-based sanctions.

Field visits have their origins in 19th-century practices of social services charitable organizations. Historically, social work posits that long-term change is accomplished by fostering relationships, teaching basic skills, and offering moral instruction, which are accomplished through visits to the residence (referred to as “friendly visitation”). The premise is that, through proper instruction (and not merely handouts) and established professional relationships, people can make effective change in their lives. Given the fact that many early community corrections professionals (that is, probation and parole officers) were recruited from the social work professions, field visits and friendly visitation were employed in early community corrections and continue today.

Field visits not only enable community corrections professionals to advance the various goals of community corrections (deterrence, incapacitation, retribution, and public safety) but also constitute a key supervision tool. During a field visit, the professional is able to verify the offender's residence, employment, or school enrollment and assess its suitability. A probation officer can determine if an offender is in compliance with the terms and conditions of his probation judgment by not living with or in the proximity of children (often required of those convicted of sex offenses involving children) or associating with other known felons. Field visits may assist in deterrence in that offenders may have negative views of the field contacts and opt to remain out of trouble to ensure that the offender is not subject to an intrusion of his or her privacy. In turn, verification and assessment of an offender's residence or employment promote public safety.

Field visits at an offender's residence, work site, school, or treatment center allow community corrections professionals to verify that an offender is maintaining the terms of his or her release and may reduce the likelihood of recidivism.

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Ongoing visits to the employer, residence, or school may also serve as a deterrent, in that the supervision of the offender outside the office may include searches of his or her person or property, and thus the offender will refrain from possessing weapons and other contraband that violates the terms and conditions of probation. Field visits may serve as a means of incapacitation, in that they can reduce the likelihood that an offender may reoffend. Offenders who are subject to random and unannounced field visits will be unlikely to engage in criminal behavior in the residence, school, or workplace if they are uncertain when the community corrections professional may appear for a field visit. This surveillance of offenders may in turn promote public safety.

Field visits promote rehabilitation in that they allow community corrections professionals to develop trust and rapport with the offender in circumstances that are less intimidating than the courthouse or the professional's office. Field visits also promote rehabilitation in that community corrections professionals have the opportunity to conduct [Page 170]field visits at agencies (such as substance abuse facilities and school or training facilities), where people work with and develop rapport with the offender and the offender's family members, thus extending the support network of the offender in a rehabilitative context.

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