When parole, probation officers choose empathy, returns to jail decline

It's encouraging when someone takes positive steps to make a difference. Recidivism is a real problem, so it's great that they seem to have achieved significant successes through their empathy training. I would think the POs are pleased with the results as well.

"Ten months after administering the training, researchers found a 13% decrease in recidivism among the offenders whose parole and probation officers had completed the empathy survey.

While the study yielded no specifics on what prevented the parolees and people on probation for reoffending in the period following the officers’ empathy training, the results suggest that a change in relationship dynamics played a key role.

“The officer is in a position of power to influence if it’s going to be an empathic or punitive relationship in ways that the person on parole or probation is not,” Okonofua said. “As our study shows, the relationship between probation and parole officers and the people they supervise plays a pivotal role and can lead to positive outcomes, if efforts to be more understanding are taken into consideration."

When parole, probation officers choose empathy, returns to jail decline | Research UC Berkeley