Introduction

As this volume reflects, there is a growing body of empirical research on the practice of offender supervision in Europe and some recent work on probation practice using observations (Raynor et al, 2010, 2014; Trotter and Evans, 2012; Durnescu, 2014). As far as we know, however, probation practices have never been addressed comparatively using observation as a method.

In this chapter, we address the initial phase of the working relationships practitioners and service users develop in the context of community sentences in Flanders and Catalonia. In particular, we focus on the practices undertaken and the skills used in first interviews; we also reflect on how these practices set the scene for the working relationship between probation officers and probationers.

To do so, we have gathered documentary data (legal information, regulations and mission statements, national standards and practitioners’ guidelines) and have drawn on empirical research: previous research by the authors involving in-depth interviews with practitioners and structured observation of first interviews between practitioners and probationers.

The observations were conducted by researchers from various European jurisdictions in the context of a subgroup of the COST Action on Offender Supervision in Europe (Boxstaens et al, 2015). The main aim of this international group of researchers, who were members of the COST Action subgroup on Practising Supervision, was to explore the use of observation as a method for data collection in comparative research on probation practice. Although the aim was methodological and the study necessarily exploratory, the substantive data gathered in the two jurisdictions is rich enough for a comparative exercise.

The relationship between clients and therapists

In the field of psychotherapy and counselling, it is well established that the relationship between clients and therapists or counsellors is a vital component of the therapeutic process (Lambert and Barley, 2002; Binder et al, 2009; Norcross, 2011; DeLude et al, 2012). A very broad, but widespread, definition of a relationship in a therapeutic context was introduced by Gelso and Carter (1994): ‘The relationship is the feelings and attitudes that therapist and client have toward one another, and the manner in which they are expressed’ (Gelso and Samstag, 2008, p 268).