Problem
An offender can only be sentenced for the crime of which he or she is convicted. For example, if a serious violent offender was convicted of possession of marijuana, that offender can only be sentenced to a punishment appropriate to the possession of marijuana- such as probation. It is entirely possible that a probation officer would be required to supervise that serious violent offender as a probationer. The propensity for serious violence might be an identifiable risk to the community, and as such the probation officer would be expected to address that risk appropriately. In sum, a probation officer might be required to supervise offenders that pose much higher threats than a sentence of probation might suggest.
This makes the job of a community supervision officer that much more difficult; a probation officer might know that a probationer is a threat to his or her family but only be able to operate within the bounds of the criteria for probation. How might this present ethical dilemmas to that probation officer? What kinds of emotional challenges do you think this knowledge would create? What resources might be available to help the probation officer act appropriately and to deal with any emotional turmoil?