An interpretative phenomenological analysis on the experience of probation officers in managing people with antisocial personality disorder

Abstract

People who are managed by the National Probation Service and convicted of high risk offences will often meet criteria for antisocial personality disorder and have complex psychosocial needs; this group of people present with high risk behavior which may professionals have been reluctant to work with in the past who are associated with higher rates of recidivism. This study investigated the experiences of probation officers in managing people who meet the criteria for Anti Social Personality Disorder. Semi structured interviews were conducted with six participants to capture their experiences of working with this population, the challenges they faced, and coping mechanisms employed, through analysis using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three superordinate themes were identified which revealed participants internal feeling, strategies employed, and external challenges. They spoke about internal negative feelings, specifically feeling controlled, having mistrust, a lack of confidence, being overwhelmed with emotion, and experiencing a fear of risk behaviors. Other themes involved external pressures as well as different coping responses. Implications are discussed to help probation officers to understand this population, for the organization to support staff to work with challenging behaviors and prevent burn out, to enable positive outcomes, and for potentially reducing reoffending.