The COVID-19 Pandemic and Probation in Chile: Remote Supervision and Regional Differences

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Chilean probation officers to adopt remote supervision technologies to maintain contact with their clients. Considering remote contact was scarcely used by Chilean probation officers before the pandemic, this change demands studying the impact of the pandemic remote supervision on the contact between officers and clients. To address this problem, we surveyed probation officers ( n = 326) exploring the impact of COVID-19 on clients, officers, and the use of remote supervision across six Chilean macro-geographical regions representing the entire country: Extreme North, North, Santiago (Metropolitan Region), Middle South, South, and Extreme South. The survey includes demographics on probation officers at the national level, presenting data about their workload and agency for the first time. The results suggest that probation officers drastically changed how they contact their clients, shifting from primarily in-person communication to remote contact including videoconferencing, calls, and text messages. Our findings indicate that clients were heavily impacted by the pandemic in different psychosocial aspects and had low rates of access to technology. Finally, the macro-geographical analysis reveals how demographics, agency characteristics, technology access, and COVID-19 impact vary throughout the country. We conclude by discussing the relevance of the geographical and socioeconomic context before implementing remote supervision as community supervision core practice.

A developmental model of sentencing evolution: The emergence of the politics of probation in Chile

“…We use the term ‘probation’ (in Chilean law: penas sustitutivas ) to refer collectively to community supervision penalties. As all penalties are set in prison time, probation is deemed to substitute for incarceration (Galleguillos et al., 2022). The requirements of the different forms of community supervision vary depending on the degree of control associated with the penalty.…”

Building accountability and client–officer relationships through videoconferencing: Exploring best practices for community corrections

“…A common finding among these studies is that COVID-19 led to an increased use of videoconferencing and remote technologies by community correction agencies. The use of videoconferencing and remote supervision has increased across the US (Koetzle and Schwalbe, 2020; Powell et al, 2022), Latin America (Galleguillos et al, 2022), Asia (Nunphong et al, 2022), and Europe (Stempkowski and Grafl, 2021; Sturm et al, 2021) with findings consistently indicating a shift in the use of remote technologies compared to pre-pandemic contacts which largely relied on in-person contact.…”

“…This flexibility includes benefits such as shorter commuting times (Stempkowski and Grafl, 2021; Sturm et al, 2021) and fewer interruptions to the clients’ daily routines (Dominey et al, 2021; Lockwood et al, 2021; Sturm et al, 2021). This advantage is considered especially beneficial for clients living distant from community correction agencies (Lockwood et al, 2021; Galleguillos et al, 2022). Additionally, community correction officers highlight that remote contacts create a more relaxed environment to talk without having the formalities of in-person interactions (Casey et al, 2021).…”

“…Studies reveal that the lack of adequate equipment is a challenge experienced by both clients and agencies that do not have the resources to conduct videoconferencing (Martin and Zettler, 2022; Lockwood et al, 2021). This may be particularly problematic for older clients or those living in more remote areas with limited or poor internet access (Galleguillos et al, 2022; Lockwood et al, 2021).…”

“…Sturm et al (2021) advance a "blended approach" including in-person contact and remote contact for administrative issues and late stages of the supervision. However, the continued use of remote technologies should consider geographical and socioeconomic contexts when setting policy and distributing the agency resources (Galleguillos et al, 2022). Maintaining the use of remote supervision demands a full comprehension of the benefits and challenges posed by this form of contact to community correction agencies, officers, and clients.…”