CEP has released the first cross-European study examining stress, burnout, and morale among probation staff. The report was produced by Professor Charlie Brooker, Professor Karen Tocque, Professor Ioan Durnescu and Liliana Lupsica, whose combined expertise in public health, criminology, and organisational analysis provides an important contribution to our understanding of well-being in probation work.
The authors undertook this research to address a clear gap in European knowledge. While burnout in probation has been widely discussed, there has been little comparative evidence on how different systems organise prevention, support their staff, and monitor well-being. The study responds directly to this need and aligns with the growing attention across Europe to the mental health of criminal justice professionals.
Using the Maslach Burnout Inventory and an organisational survey completed by directors in twenty two jurisdictions, the report brings together individual experiences of stress with a detailed look at how organisations structure prevention and support. The findings show moderate levels of burnout across the sample, with only one third of staff classified as engaged. Crucially, the data demonstrates that staff morale is strongly associated with organisational design rather than individual factors alone.
The report identifies three clusters of organisational practice: advanced systems with well-established prevention and recovery structures, emerging systems with partial provision, and minimal systems where support remains informal. Countries with more formalised policies, routine training, confidential support, and structured reintegration were also those with higher staff engagement and fewer burnout cases.
This study offers an important message for all probation services. Staff well-being improves when it is embedded in governance, monitored regularly, and supported through clear structures rather than left to individual resilience. The report encourages jurisdictions to strengthen workload policies, enhance communication, expand access to mental health support, and build a routine infrastructure for listening to staff needs.
CEP invites members to read both the summary and the full report, which provide a comprehensive foundation for strengthening staff well-being across Europe.
The European survey of probation staff’s stress and morale
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The MSt in Applied Criminology, Penology and Management (Penology) at the University of Cambridge is designed for senior professionals working in prisons, probation, and related fields. The programme welcomes applicants from the public, private and voluntary sectors, the legal profession, and allied disciplines such as psychology and psychiatry.
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