4 December 2015 | Comments
Damian Small (pictured) arrived on St Helena at the end of October 2015 to undertake his role as a Probation Officer working at HM Prison, Jamestown. He is initially on Island on a one year contract.
A large part of his job involves him encouraging, supporting and assisting individuals to make changes in their lives. His role will see him assess and manage the risks posed by individuals through their offending and to hopefully reduce the risks of re-offending.
Damian said:
“Research shows that supporting and enabling change in individuals is the key in reducing offending behaviour. This is the traditional role of the Probation Service and I believe it is still the key to how we work best today. To achieve this, I work with individuals and deliver programmes to them, based on their individual needs and circumstances.”
Damian has been a Probation Officer in the UK for six years and has held a number of posts in Probation Service, including as a General Offending Manager, where he was responsible for assessing and designing sentence plans for offenders. He spent three years delivering a structured programme of rehabilitation for perpetrators of domestic violence.
He has experience of working with a diverse range of individuals ranging in age and offence types, including murder, domestic violence, death by dangerous driving and sexual offences.
Damian added:
“I have built my skill set and grown to understand the importance of building trust with those I am working with. Group work is a very powerful experience for individuals, and I have witnessed people take responsibility for their behaviour and go on to make very positive changes in their lives.
“Working with people and supporting them to make positive choices and changes was a big factor in why I chose to become a Probation Officer.”
SHG
4 December 2015
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