THE VOLUNTEER PROBATION OFFICER SYSTEM IN KOREA
Woo Sik Chung*
It is believed that we cannot examine the probation system without mentioning the important role
played by volunteers. For many people who have other occupations with different life experiences, one
way to be involved with human services is to volunteer. The willingness to help others, without the
motive for profit, is characteristic of human societies and is expressed in the activity of thousands ofpeople who share their time, energy, and talents to make this a better society. It was from efforts to
prepare volunteers to provide more accountable services that the crime prevention volunteer
organisation became a recognized social entity and, now, a significant helping civilian force in Korea.
This manuscript prepared for the 121st Training Session discusses the volunteer system of theprobation operation in Korea in the following aspects: the legal basis, background, activities, recruiting,training, and problems and their solutions.
A. The Legal Name
The legal name of a volunteer probation officer in Korea is currently “a member of Crime
Prevention Volunteer Committee.” Originally, there were three volunteer groups of organisations inrelation to our criminal justice system: the Rehabilitation Aid Committee started in 1961, the Juvenile
Guidance Committee in 1981, and the Protection Committee in 1989. During the course of theirinvolvement as a major force of volunteers, many conflicts among those invited a new development thatcreated a significant change in their organisational structure, which combined the above three
volunteer groups into one in 1996. This newly created body named “the Crime Prevention Volunteer
Committee” was put under the direct control of the Deputy Prosecutor General in the Supreme Public
Prosecutor's Office.
B. The Legal Basis (Laws and Regulations Concerning Volunteer Probation Officer System)
One of the most distinct features of the probation system is the citizen's involvement in theoperation of the system. Criminal Law concerning the probation system clearly indicates that the
purpose of its operation is 1) to prevent recidivism through a systematic community treatment, 2) topromote the offender's return to the community, and 3) to develop crime prevention activities (Art. 1).
And also all citizens must provide the nation with their full cooperation on the basis of their status andcapacity toward reaching the goals, and the nation and the local authorities should be responsible forthe growth of the guiding activities for the offenders (Art. 2). This is because the prime objectives of theprobation system, that is, preventing recidivism and returning offenders to the community, can only beachievable by a joint venture of the governing authority and the citizen.
In other words, collaborative efforts with the citizens, the nation, and the local authorities are
required to accomplish the originally designed objectives of the probation system.
The function of the Crime Prevention Volunteer Committee is to conduct crime prevention activities
and support the activities of the probation and the rehabilitation aid (Art. 18-1).The administering
regulation of the probation concretely prescribes that the function of the committee member is to:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Deploy crime prevention activities in the community
Provide the offender with counselling
Assist job search and financial aid
Comply with other related concerns regulated by the Minister of Justice (Art. 10).

* Professor of Social Work
Sogang University,
Seoul,Korea

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 61
Accordingly, the Crime Prevention Volunteer Basic Regulations (No. 363) describe specifically thefunction of the committee members as follows:
1. Deploying the prevention activities for school violence and crime by establishing a mentor
relationship with the delinquent juvenile
2. Providing counselling and special instruction for those who have the suspension of indictment
under the condition of guidance
3. To aid the probation officer's task in the areas of guidance, supervision, Community Service Order,
pre-sentence investigation, and background investigation
4. To support job search, vocational training, care, and financial aid
Criminal Law concretely prescribes that members of the Probation Examination Committee (Art.
7), members of the Crime Prevention Committee (Art. 18), and the Rehabilitation Aid Workers (Art. 67)
are encouraged to participate in the operation of the probation system. This law should not beinterpreted in a limited sense that the citizen can only participate in those categories mentioned above.
Rather it invites them in a variety of forms on the basis of their competencies and strengths so that
contributions they might bring toward the system goals can be made. In practice, the citizens'
involvement, like a mentor programme, is currently under the operation in the activities of the crime
prevention committee as a transformed shape, in the activities of the Community Service Order and the
Attendance Center Order as a form of collaborative agency in the operation of the probation system.
As a matter of fact, however, in 1990, 19,934 offenders were placed on probation, 2,107 on
Community Service, and 1,347 on Attendance Center Order in the early stage of the development of theprobation system. Now, with the extended application of probation sanctions to adults, there are about
90,000 probationers, about 40,000 on Community Service, and about 10,000 on attendance order in
2001. In spite of a significant increase of those numbers, the activities of the crime prevention
volunteers committee remain in similar fashion without revitalization of its functions, which wasconsidered to be a problematic organisation. Hence, the design that promotes the citizen's involvement
along with members of the Crime Prevention Volunteers Committee seem to be imperative.
The number from the probation division in the crime prevention volunteers committee is small incomparison to the other two volunteer organisations. Broadly speaking, the Rehabilitation Aid
Committee is a part of the probation system but not directly related to the daily operations of probation
due to their limited engagement only in cases of the completion of the execution of sentence. Therefore,
this manuscript covers only the system of the crime prevention volunteers committee that is directly
associated with the probation system in Korea.
C. The Introduction of the Volunteer Probation Officer System
Since the introduction of the probation system to Juveniles in Korea in 1989, civilian volunteers
began to participate in the task of offenders' rehabilitation by assisting the probation officers. As briefly
mentioned earlier, the Protection Committee that started in 1989 was the main resource in providing
the assistance for the probation operation as a civilian voluntary organisation. This was considered tobe the first involvement of the volunteers in the system operation.
D. Background of the Volunteer Probation Officer System
Since its birth, the probation system has been mainly operated by the probation officers whose
ranks(5th or higher) are relatively high in the government organisational structure. The rationale
behind this criteria was that the probation officers should be well equipped with the professional
knowledge and skills in various fields of social science as well as criminal law in order to provide
offenders with more efficient, effective, and relevant ways of guidance. However, the occupational
positions like this rather contributed to less accountable consequences due to the difficulty of recruiting
more probation officers caused by the stringent governmental budget policies. In addition to thisproblem, the probation officers were very limited to field work trips due to the shortage of manpower
which were necessary functions for the proper supervision of offenders. As of today, the total number ofprobation officers is 125 with the number of probationers at a little over 140,000. This kind ofoperational situation caused the necessity of citizen's involvement in the probation system.

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Another aspect that required the volunteers' participation is that probation is a form of communitybased sanction that is characterized by societal involvement and collaborative efforts. Moreover, theprobationers are residing in the community. With the probation officer's supervision, it is hard to expect
the anticipated goal to be achieved. Volunteers' involvement becomes the necessary component of thesystem's success.
The probation system also aims to reform or rehabilitate the offenders within the community, thus,
its effectiveness is closely related with the cooperative manpower resources. Hence, the civilian
volunteers cooperation is considered to be a critical system component that partially replaces the main
responsibilities of the heavily loaded probation officers' tasks.
Since the success or failure of the probation system is largely dependent on the degree of theintensity of the volunteers' participation in the system’s operation, its importance and necessity become
more valuable:
First, a) because both the volunteers and the probationers are in the same residential boundary,
this makes it easier for them to contact each other whenever necessary, b) the volunteer can come up
with a proper plan for the offender's needs since he/she is familiar with the matters in the community,c) the volunteer can seek cooperation from the residents without difficulty, and d) the maximum
utilization of the community resources are readily available.
Second, a) the volunteer is not an authority-laden official figure. His/her civilian status enables
him/her to approach the offender's family in a comfortable manner, b) they can establish a mutuallyrespectable relationship.
Third, the probation officer's supervision and guidance designated to a certain offender is notalways continuous due to the fact that officers are often relocated, but the volunteer is relatively stablein his/her residency so that continuous assistance is almost guaranteed.
E. An Outline of the Volunteer Probation System
1. Definition
The members of the Crime Prevention Volunteer committee are not government officers, but
conduct the activities of crime prevention, support the probation activities and the rehabilitation aid
works (Criminal Law, Art. 18-2). They also assist the probation officers and take the responsibility ofbackground screening and guidance activities for those who are subject to supervision, instruction, andsupport due to probation. They are appointed by the Minister of the Department of Justice from those
who are respected socially as reliable people and possess a passionate spirit for service. The position
they are holding is reputation-laden in its nature and they are entitled to be paid in part or in full for
their volunteer works (Art. 18-3). They are issued certification with a badge, and paid for their actual
expenses and entitled to be compensated for any damage.
2. Purpose
As described above, the main purpose is to assist the probation officer in the way that offenders are
guided, supervised, and cared for, so that the objectives of the probation system are fulfilled, that is,rehabilitating and returning them into their communities where they came from.
3. The Criteria for Appointment as a Volunteer Probation Officer(i) Qualification
The administering Regulations of the Probation Law, No. 8-1, prescribes the criteria for appointing
members of the crime prevention volunteer committee. The qualifying criteria to become a crime
prevention volunteer committee member is as follows:
1. Those who are considered as socially reliable in their character and conduct.
2. Those who possess a passionate attitude for social services.
3. Those who are healthy and active.

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4. Those who are not subject to the deficient criteria of the Government Official Recruiting
Regulation No. 33.
The same regulation, No. 8-2, also prescribes the disqualifying criteria as follows:
1. Those who neglect the assigned tasks or produce no practical performance as a crime prevention
volunteer committee member.
2. Those who exhibit delinquent conduct in relation to his/her duty.
3. Those who are considered to be an inappropriate person due to the damage made on the dignityof the volunteer mission.
Regarding appointment and disqualification as a member of the Crime Prevention Committee, theCrime Prevention Guide Committee is established in the local public prosecution office and its
branches. The committee is composed of the deputy public prosecutor, crime prevention publicprosecutor, the district probation office head, the head of the rehabilitation aid committee, and thecrime prevention volunteer committee members. The committee examines the following (The basic
regulation, No. 10-1):
1. Recommendation of appointment, reappointment, and disqualification, and remuneration forthe crime prevention volunteer committee members,
2. Analysis of crime trends in the community and establishment of crime prevention strategies,
3. Establishment of the crime prevention task plan, and
4. Support and revitalization of the crime prevention volunteer committee members.
On the basis of recommendations made by this committee, the minister of the Ministry of Justicemakes the final decisions. The ratio of appointing the Crime Prevention Volunteer Committee member
is generally one volunteer per 1,000 population. In addition to this ratio, other circumstances such as
crime trends in the community and population density, are considered in the selection of the volunteers.
(ii) Age limit and remuneration
There is no age limit set to be appointed a crime prevention volunteer, however, it is recommended
that they be over 30. Those who are too old are discouraged due to the generation gap between theoffender and the committee member. As indicated in the Administering Regulations of the Probation
Law, No. 18-3, members of the crime prevention volunteer committee are entitled to be paid in part orin full for the tasks performed. They are also entitled to be compensated for damage incurred during theperformance of their duty.
4. The Status of the Volunteer Probation Officers
The term of appointment is three years and is renewable (Crime Prevention Volunteer's Rule, No.
4). There are no special guidelines regarding the reappointment of committee members. However, therecord of successful engagement of volunteering tasks is an indication of a good candidate for the
reappointment. The minister of the Ministry of Justice appoints the committee members, however, theminister can entrust the authorizing power of appointing the committee members over to the chief
public prosecutor in the local public prosecution offices (The same rule, No. 5).
The chief of the probation office can appoint a person, who is qualified, as a special crime prevention
member if he/she is specially related to the offender (The same Art. 8-1).
F. Activities of Volunteer Probation Officers
1. Major Activities
According to the Probation Law (regulation No. 10), as described earlier, the crime prevention
volunteer committee member is supposed to conduct the following:
1. Engage in the activities of crime prevention in the community
2. Provide offenders with counselling
3. Assist offenders in job placement and financial aid

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4. Comply with other related concerns regulated by the Ministry of Justice
The Crime Prevention Volunteer Basic Regulation (No. 400-3) also prescribes the following to be
performed to:
1. Provide counselling and special instruction for those who have a suspension of indictment under
the condition of guidance
2. Aid the probation officer's tasks in the areas of guidance, Community Service Orders, andbackground investigation
3. Support offenders for job placement, vocational training, care, and financial aid
4. Engage in the activities of school safety and prevention of school violence
5. Aid with basic medical care and medicine
6. Engage in other activities preventing crime in the community
In order to perform the above, the committee member can, if needed, request the agencies'
collaborative inquires in relation to a fact finding situation involved with the offence (No. 400-6).
The committee can also have the local collaboration committees as branch organisations in order topromote its function more efficiently. The local committees are operated in the offices of cities,
provinces, and municipal areas (the same regulation, No. 13-2). The local public prosecutor office andits branches can also operate the district committee to perform the same functions mentioned above(the same regulation, No. 13-1). The district committee performs the following tasks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Propelling plans and strategies established by the committee
Recommending for appointment, disqualification, and remuneration of the committee members
Adjusting and planning the committee members' tasks
Educating, researching, and collecting data regarding the committee's tasks
Activating public relations for the crime prevention committee including the local committees
Other necessary concerns that are considered to be effective for the activities of crime
prevention

If the chair of the local committee recognizes the necessity of establishing divisions for probation,
rehabilitation aid, school violence prevention, counselling, and medical support, the divisions can be
operated under the committee administration (the same regulation, No. 20-1) and the special
committees for finance, women, and education can additionally be put into action (No. 20-2).
In order to support the nationwide crime prevention activities and to adjust the local committee'stasks, the committee can also establish the national association for crime prevention (the basic
regulation No. 22-1).
As of December 30, 2000, the total number of Crime Prevention Volunteers was 18,039. By eachfield: 2,438 were in the school violence division, 10,138 in the guidance and counselling division, 2,976
in the probation division, 1, 893 for job placement and the finance division, and 651 for the medical
division. The greater shortage is seen in divisions of probation and job placement and finance. The first
three divisions mainly focus on juveniles who are placed on suspension of indictment under theconditions by the public prosecutors. The other two deal with adult probationers and parolees.
2. The Procedure for Assigning a Case to a Volunteer
The operation of the probation system is closely related with the cooperation of the volunteers. With
the probation staff only, it is difficult to exercise its full range of engagement for the execution of theprobation, the Community Service Order, and the Attendance Center Order. Therefore, the system is ingreat need of assistance from volunteers as well as the neighbouring local agencies as a collaborative
force.
There are two ways of assigning the case to the volunteer: direct assignment from the probation
office and an assignment through the local committee.

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 61(i) Direct assignment from the probation office• Starting the classification of the offender who notified his/her status to the probation office•

Assigning the case to volunteers who appear to be proper after consideration of the residence,
the nature of charge, and the family background of the offender•

Notifying the fact that the volunteer is assigned to the case with the necessary official
documents•

Notifying the offender's parents that the case is assigned to the volunteer and that they areencouraged to assist the subject follow the volunteer's counsel and instruction•

Beginning the enforcement of probation after an initial interview with the offender and his/herparents•

Reporting to the probation office once a month concerning the results of counselling in an official
form, “the probation process report”(ii) An assignment through the local committee• Listing the general subjects among the classification subjects•

Sending the list of the general subjects to the chair of the local committee and requesting an
appointment of a proper volunteer to the case•

Notifying the probation office that a volunteer is recommended as a proper person to be
assigned to the case after the consideration of the residence, the nature of the charge, sex,family background, and other conditions•

Making a decision by the chief of the probation office in assigning the recommended volunteer tothe case unless he/she shows any defect•Notifying the offender and his/her parents of the fact that a volunteer is assigned to the case•

Beginning the probation process with an initial interview between the offender and thevolunteer•

Sending the results of counselling to the chair of the local committee in an official form, “theprobation process report”•

Sending “the probation process report” prepared by the chair of the local committee to the chiefof the probation office after recording it on file

Regarding the collaboration from the local agencies, there is no legal ground for its utilization,
however, we have selected 1,505 local agencies as the collaborative institutions to assist the execution ofCommunity Service Orders in the areas of public sector, administration sector, welfare sector, medical
sector, and others. There are also 133 local collaboration agencies to serve those who are given an
Attendance Center Order due to their need of care and supervision from the problems of drug addiction,
careless driving, psycho therapy, family violence, sex violence, and others. These are inevitablesituations we have now since the probation staff is greatly limited in terms of fulfilling their official
duties.
The current status of its operation shows that, in the case of Attendance Center Orders, among
3,803 offenders, only 43.5 percent were executed by the probation staff and 56.5 percent by volunteers
from the local collaborating agencies as consigned institutions. If we look at each execution field, 30
percent was for careless drivers, 18.5 percent for drugs, 4 percent for psychotherapy, 1.8 percent forfamily violence, 0.2 percent for sex violence, and 1.7 percent for others (The Ministry of Justice,probation inspection analysis, 2000). In the case of Community Service Order, as of April 2002, among232

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34,907 offenders, 17.3 percent were executed by the probation staff and 82.7 percent by volunteers fromthe local collaborating agencies. The execution by the probation staff was increased compared to last
year's 10.2 percent. The areas volunteers covered were the welfare field (34.8), the public field (26.6%),
the administration field (11.5%), the medical field (6.5%), and others (3.3%). Although assigned works,
such as cleaning domestic and public places, agricultural assistance, natural disaster repairs, andothers, are not required for close supervision by the qualified staff, 17.3 percent execution is very small.
Heavy reliance on volunteers’ assistance must be considered as a major problematic issue.
3. The Way the Volunteers Report to the Probation Office
The reports prepared by the volunteers brings a lot of valuable and insightful information that isuseful for the development of intervening strategies in the management of the offender's situation. The
ways the volunteers report their assigned works are carried out through either an interview with theoffender or visiting the residence of the offender.
The ordinary manner of conducting the supervision and guidance is in the use of interview skills. If
the case requires special attention, the volunteer makes a personal visit to the offender's residence orworkplace.
The following are a few points of concern that need attention:•

The date of the report should be clearly indicated•

The writing needs to be simple and clear using easy expressions and the contents should beconcrete•

Detail description is required regarding the subject's various circumstances•

The use of demeaning language is discouraged and the use of Chinese characters needs to beprecise in writing•

Facts or opinions that are not certain or doubtful are discouraged•

Reporting should be based on factual information, not on assumptions or personal experiences•

Valid and objective information should be the major criteria so that the probation officer cancome up with a reliable intervening strategy in the management of the case•In the case of the need for a change in management level, such an opinion should be expressed

More specifically, the following are essential points:
1. The case number
the number of the case should be written on the subject’s managing card
2. Name
Korean, if possible, in Chinese characters and a nickname
3. The period of probation
the period which is legally binding on the subject written on the management card received fromthe probation office should be used
4. Address
address used by the family members, if possible, and any change of address
5. Telephone
telephone numbers of home, employment, relatives, and cellular phone needs to be listed

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 61
6. Datethe dates that the volunteer actually contacted with the subject
7. Place
listing the names of places that the volunteer met with the subject, the guardian, andsignificant others
8. People
listing names of people with whom the volunteer met for the purpose of guiding and supervising
the subject
9. Activities for guidance and carelisting the contents of counselling, identification of recent situations, career guide, andimproving peer relations for the subject along with the contents of support to resolve any
financial difficulty
10. Change of personal and life situation
listing any changes that occurred during the probation process in the areas of family
environment, peer relations, school, and employment
11. The possibility of recidivism
listing the possibility of committing other crime(s) during the probation process after carefulobservation of the subject’s behaviour (e.g., the subject is responding regularly to counselling,
but exhibits repeated night activities by associating with unsound peers and stays overnightwith them)
The probation process reports that include the detailed descriptions of supervision and guidance aresent to the probation office once a month by the following means:
1. Through direct mail or hand delivery, and
2. Through the chair of the local committee which, forwards it to the probation office
The time for submission of the report is that:
1. The date is not set, but it is customary practice that the first part of each month is used tosubmit the report of the past month's guide and supervision to the probation office
2. Reporting once a month is required, but the number of times is not limited
Payment
1. The volunteer is paid about $5.00 per month per case after he/she reports the results of
guidance and supervision of the subject to the probation office
2. Each quarter of the year the volunteer gets his/her payment through bank transaction
G. The Procedure for Recruitment
1. Finding New Candidates
There is no formal procedure for the recruitment of the volunteers. According to a recent survey(April, 2002) conducted by the Protection Division in the Ministry of Justice, the volunteers who
responded on the item of “How did you know about the crime prevention volunteer committee”, theysaid that they were predominantly informed about this through the surrounding significant others'
admonition (67.2%), the advice of a related agency (14.9%), and self-motivated interest in crime
prevention activities (24.9%). This data indicates that the majority of the current volunteers wererecruited by means of informal procedures.

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2. The Procedure for Recommending a Candidate
The current exercise of recommending a candidate goes through the following stages:
•
•
•
•
•
•

The initial stage of recommendation starts from the district committee chair
The second stage goes to the local committee screening
The third stage goes to the investigation division
The fourth stage goes to the chief public prosecutor in the juvenile section
The fifth stage goes to the guide committee examination
The last stage goes to the Ministry of Justice

3. Who Makes a Final Decision?
The authority to make the final decision on the selection of volunteers is in the purview of theminister of the Ministry of Justice. However, in practice, the decision is made by the head of theProtection Division.
H. Training Programmes for Volunteer Probation Officers
1. Training Programmes
The Crime Prevention Volunteer Basic Regulations prescribe that the Minister of Justice, the chairof the crime prevention committee, and the chief of the probation office should provide the crime
prevention volunteer members with the necessary education for effective duty performance (The Basic
Regulation, No. 7-1). Three stages of education are offered for the crime prevention committee
members: education for new members, professional education, and advanced or reeducation (The same
Regulation, No. 7-3). New members are required to take education after six months of their
appointment. Professional education is offered both to the crime prevention committee members andgeneral citizenry by dividing it into probation, rehabilitation aid, and school violence prevention. The
citizen who participated in the professional education can be appointed as the crime prevention
committee member before the completion of this educational programme (The same Regulation, No. 73, 4).
The outline of education is as follows:
1. Education for new members is administered by the Guide Committee for the purpose of
introducing the basic education necessary for the crime prevention activities.
2. Professional education is offered both to the Crime Prevention Committee members and general
citizenry by the Guide Committee, the Probation Office, and the Rehabilitation Aid branch. The
purpose and contents of this programme are education in guidance and prevention, probation,and rehabilitation aid.
3. Advanced or reeducation is targeted at the Crime Prevention Committee members so that theycan enhance their knowledge and communities' pending issues in relation to crime. The
administering body for this programme is the Guide Committee, the Probation Office, and the
Rehabilitation Aid branch.
The educational plans above have not been systematically operated up until recently due to various
circumstances. In Oct. 2000, eight probation districts started the professional education programmes
for the crime prevention committee members and general citizenry. The total number who participatedin this programme was 1,298 in the year 2000 and 728 in 2001. Education for new members is currently
discontinued, and advanced or reeducation programmes were not offered due to lack of programme
planning.

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RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 61
2. The Programme Contents for Professional Education
Field

CurriculumContents

Hours

GeneralSpecial Lecture

Probation Related Contents

1

Law

Criminal Law

Criminology, Punishment Theory

2

Criminal Lawsuit

Procedure, Basic Principles

1

Probation Law*

Probation Related Regulations

2

Youth Protection Law

Interpretation

1

Juvenile Act

Disposition Procedure

1

Youth Policy

Policy Outline

1

Guidance

Youth Leadership

Delinquency, Causation, Guidance2

Counselling

Youth Delinquent*Counselling Theory and Cases

1

Psychotherapy*

Guidance Skills for Each Delinquent

2

Guidance Skills for Various Delinquents*

Case by Case Guidance Skills

2

Practice

Probation System*

Basic Theory for Probation System

3

Education

Probation Practice*

Probation Practice Skills

5* Required courses
Lecturers and instructors for training programmes are composed of university professors in thefield of law, social work, psychology, psychiatry, and criminology. In the government sector, the publicprosecutor and the probation officers participate in the programmes.
I. Commendation System for their Activities
The commendation system in the probation operation is a very important component in theenforcement of the probation operation's rules and regulations. This system enhances the motivation of
the volunteers' service spirits, which activate their strengths and competencies so that the offenderthey serve can be empowered to become a law-abiding citizen.
There are two types of commendations: the government and the volunteer.
1. The Government Commendation
Last year, 25 people received government commendations:••••

Four Decorations or marks of honour
Four Awards
Seven Presidential Recognition’s
Seven Prime Minister's Recognition’s

This year we are planning to increase the number of government commendations as follows:
•
•
•
•

236

Five decorations or marks of honour
Five Awards
Nine Presidential Recognition’s
Nine Prime Minister's Recognition’s

121ST INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE
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As of June 8, 2002, the following government commendations were awarded :••••15 for Decoration
11 for Awards
23 for Presidential Recognition
11 for Prime Minister's Recognition

2. The Volunteer Commendation
Last year we had nine persons for the Certificate of Merit for Volunteer as follows:•••

One person for the Great Merit ($3,000)
Three persons for Regular Merit ($2,000)
Five persons for Special Merit ($1,000)

This year's plan is the same as last year. As of June 8, 2002, the number of candidates are•••

8 for Great Merit
5 for Regular Merit
7 for Special Merit

J. Volunteer Probation Officer Statistics
As shown in Table 1, the status of the crime prevention members by occupation is predominated bypeople who are engaged in the field of commercial and manufacturing businesses (41%).
It is somewhat surprising that people we anticipated from religion (2.6%) show less participation in
the role of volunteer service. More astonishing is the lowest rate for volunteer service from the legal
professions (0.7%). People expected their greater involvement in the volunteer services since they are
the most knowledgeable experts in terms of dealing with the problems associated with offenders.

Legal Profession

Medical Doctor

Pharmacist

Religious People

Educator

Retired Educator

Social Worker

College Student

Others2001 17,741 1,093 7,298 1,740

Government Official

Corporate Employee

Commercial

Agriculture

Total

Year

Table 1. Current Status of the Crime Prevention Volunteer by Occupation (2001)

273

123

764

384

472

705

119

515

42

4,243

The following is an analysis of the data of the survey conducted on the crime prevention volunteers
committee members by the protection division of the Ministry of Justice in April, 2002:
1. Demographic Characteristics of the Volunteers
The age of the volunteers range from 30 through 79. Seventy four percent of the volunteers fall in
the ages between 40 and 59. Sex ratio wise, men make up eighty five percent and women fourteen point
seven percent. Forty four percent of volunteers reside in medium and large cities, thirty four percent in
the metropolitan cities and twenty one point six percent in municipal areas.

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Table 2. Volunteers by Category of Sex, Age, and Region

238

Respondent

Number

Ratio

Total

3058

100

Sex

Male
Female

2607
451

85.3
14.7

Age

30-39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70-79

319
1139
1128
436
36

10.4
37.2
36.9
14.3
1.2

RegionMetropolitan
Mid/Small city
Municipal area

1041
1356
661

34
44.3
21.6

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APPENDIXPROBATION PROCESS REPORT
Year
Case No.:

Month

Date

Probation
PeriodName:

Subject
Address:

Tel:

Date:
PeopleMet:

Place:
Relation:

Name:

Method:Guidance/Counselling (

)

Aid (

)

Additional Information:
Guidance
and Aid
Activity
Contents
ofProbation

Moving ()

Relocation ()

Transfer ()

Others (

Low (

)

)

Concrete Contents:
Change of
Personal
StatusHigh ()

Normal ()

Special Circumstances:Possibility ofRecidivism

Name of Volunteer:

Address:239

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2. The Areas where the Volunteers want to Serve
There are five fields in the Crime Prevention Volunteer Committee: 1) the Safe School Movement
Division (preventing school violence); 2) the Youth Counsel and Guide Division (cases of suspension ofindictment under condition of guidance); 3) the Probation Division; 4) the Rehabilitation Aid Division(released offender from prison); and 5) the Financial Aid Division (supporting crime prevention
activities). Over 80 percent of volunteers expressed their interest in the first two areas of whichfunctions are mainly focused on the juvenile. Twenty six percent of them showed their interest in
probation activities, 8.8 percent for the rehabilitation aid, and 5.5 percent for financial aid activity. Thisshows that the volunteers' greater interests are in juveniles than the adjudicated offenders.
Table 3. Interested Fields

Respondent

Number

Safe
SchoolMovement
[%]

Total

3058

42.8

41

25.9

8.8

5.5

Male

2609

42.7

40.3

25.9

8.5

6.1

Female

451

43.5

45.2

26.7

10.2

2.2

Guidance/
Rehabilitation
ProbationCounsel
Aid
[%]
[%]
[%]

Finance
Support[%]Sex

3. Regarding Hours of Activities and Amount of Cost Involvement
The monthly average hours of services the volunteers offer for the offenders is mostly under 12hours. Fourty one point five percent of volunteers spent under 6 hours, 32.4% between 6 and 12 hours,
and 15.7% between 12 and 24 hours.
Fourty nine point three percent of the volunteers spent within the amount of $80.00 per month andno cost involvement was 34 percent. These amounts are the volunteers personal pocket monies.
Table 4. Monthly Hours
Between
6 &12 hours[%]

Between
12 & 24hours[%]

Over 24hours[%]

Respondent

NumberWithin
6 hours
[%]

Total

2848

41.5

32.4

15.7

9.4

Male

2436

40.8

32.6

16

9.8

Female

412

45.9

31.8

14.1

7.5

Sex

Table 5. Monthly cost
Respondent

NumberNo cost[%]Less than$80[%]

Less than$250[%]

Less than$400[%]

Over $400
[%]

Total

2843

34

49.3

12.1

2

1.8

Male

2436

33.7

48.6

12.8

2.1

1.9

Female

412

35.7

55.4

8.5

1.2

0.7

Sex

4. On the Method of the Volunteers Selection
The volunteers were asked which method of selection they preferred: 1) an examination of theapplication form only (50.7%); 2) through public announcements (12.8%); 3) through recommendations
from the public prosecutors and the probation officers (12.5%); and 4) through officials and interviews

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VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS(23.5%). The majority of the volunteers were in favour of the first method, which might indicate lesssincerity about the role of the crime prevention activities.
Table 6. Selection Method
Respondent

NumberSelf
screen[%]Publicannouncement[%]

Recommendations
from officials[%]

Interviews
[%]

Total

3058

50.7

12.8

12.5

23.5

Male

2607

51.6

12.2

12

23.7

Female

451

45.5

16.2

15.1

22.2

Sex

5. On the Items of Education
Ninety four point four percent of the volunteers thought that education was necessary. The areas ofeducation they prefer are guidance and prevention for the juvenile (62.9%), probation (26.7%), and therehabilitation aid (7.9%). Predominantly, the volunteers were in favour of the juvenile's situation. This
may indicate that the volunteers think the juvenile is more easily approachable and has a greater
chance of being rehabilitated if properly counselled.
Table 7. Education
Respondent

Number

Yes
[%]

No
[%]

Total

3058

94.4

5.2

Male

2607

94.1

5.5

Female

451

96.7

3.1

Sex

Table 8. Areas of Education
Respondent

Number

Guidance/
Counselling[%]

Probation[%]

Rehabilitation
[%]

Total

2848

62.9

26.7

7.9

Male

2436

62.9

26.9

7.8

Female

412

62.8

25.7

8.5

Sex

In summary, the data reveals that the involvement of senior citizens is less than the other age
groups. The community could be benefited by utilizing the retired who had been well educated, served,
and experienced during the course of their life. An effort of cultivating this age group seems to be a good
resource in the management of the volunteers’ activities in our criminal justice system. Women's
involvement compared with men's is considerably low. Considering women's service activities inreligious sectors, the ratio of their activities between the community and the church is not comparable.
With women being more involved than men, this may reflect that women are more concerned with theirown personal and self-interest than the public and societal issues.
The metropolitan areas where more people reside reveals less participation than the other cities.
Since more problems occurred in heavily populated areas, it was thought that we would have more
people who may be interested in volunteering some of their time in our criminal justice system. But our
anticipation was not met. Are citizens in this area busier than other places? Are they more selfcentered? Are they more indifferent about social issues? We do not know unless we have a criticalinterpretation on this issue studied.

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These phenomena may reflect our citizens' distrust of our criminal justice system. That is why therecruiting and the management of our volunteers’ system was not as effective as we expected from the
beginning. Let's look at the cost issue as well. As previously mentioned, the government set a policythat the volunteers can be paid for their services about $5.00 per offender per month. The survey data,
however, indicates that over 50 percent of the volunteers spend about $80.00 per month on theoffenders during their activities. This kind of practice should be readjusted. The government's
reluctancy on this issue is intolerable. Regarding the recruiting method, the current procedure isconsidered to be the major hindering element in terms of enhancing the volunteers' motive andmaintaining the expected level of management. Appointing well spirited and dedicated citizens to thevolunteer forces is vital in achieving goals designed by the government. As seen in the data, themajority of volunteers (50.7%) were in favour of self-screening processes to be appointed as volunteer. A
careful examination of their motives prior to the nomination seems imperative if an accountable system
operation is designed. The volunteers, in general, have also shown that they are more interested in theactivities of juveniles. Especially, they were more interested in the Safe School Movement aimed atpreventing school violence. This reflects the fact that school violence is one of the most serious social
issues currently occurring in Korean society. Accordingly, many citizens showed their concern towards asolution to this problem.
K. Evaluation: Problems and Future Prospects
In order to improve the current volunteer operation in our criminal justice system, a few areas areof concern: the recruiting procedure, training, a reorganisation of the committee, and collaborating
agencies, and the various forms of volunteer involvement.
1. Recruitment Procedure
The recruitment procedure for the crime prevention volunteers as indicated earlier, the volunteers
are appointed by the Minister of Justice. However, it is general practice that members of the Crime
Prevention Committee are appointed by the recommendation of the public prosecutors office and thecrime prevention committee. Thus, it is a reality that the principal body of the probation system
operation has no place in submitting their opinions and suggestions in the process of recruiting
volunteers. This resulted in volunteers' indifference or ignorance towards the probation system.
Therefore, we need a plan that reflects the probation office's opinions regarding the recruitment ofvolunteers. Within the current organisational structure of the Crime Prevention Volunteer Committee,
it may not be practical to employ the above suggestions at this time because the united body of various
volunteers group with the name the “Crime Prevention Volunteer Committee” is under the directcontrol of the Deputy Public Prosecutor General in the Supreme Public Prosecutor Office. Hence, it isdesirable that the probation office should have authority in recommending volunteers at least to theprobation division, which is one of the fields in the Crime Prevention Volunteer Committee.
2. Educational Training
A well planned educational programme is one way of revitalizing the volunteers involvement to theprobation operation. Only 15.6 percent of the Crime Prevention Volunteers are classified as members of
the probation committee. This tells us that the lack of interest and recognition of the importance of
probation are apparent.
It is fortunate that recently education programmes were offered to volunteers in various probation
districts throughout the nation as part of the professionalisation of volunteers. But, the numbers
participating in the educational programmes are very limited and also the contents of the courses arestill too general to deal with the specific situations from the professional standpoint. The organisationand contents of the curriculum in the educational programmes should be further developed toward theprofessional level. Since the probation system is under the operation of a legal department, it isunderstandable that most educational courses are designed on the basis of the legal aspect, however,the programme operation is largely an administrative function that requires a wide application ofknowledge and skills from the social science field, especially from the social work perspective, which
focuses on the transaction between the offender and his/her immediate surrounding environment. The
traditional control model and the current service model that emphasizes the strength of the offenders
has a large gap that inhibits the effective and efficient way of helping the offenders. Lecturers are242

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VISITING EXPERTS’ PAPERS
mostly legal professionals and few are from the social work field. Training should be regularly
administered to all members of the Crime Prevention Volunteer Committee at least once a year during
their three years appointment.
3. Reorganisation
As currently exercised, the probation division utilises less than a quarter out of the entire volunteer
pool; this is a problematic issue. Three quarters are in other divisions, whose functions are not directly
related to probation. Many members still do not belong to any divisions. In other words, they are notassigned to any activities. They are simply paying their monthly dues ($25.00). Those unassigned need
to be reoriented for their positive involvement, or removed from the pool. It is believed that inherently
the major spirit of volunteering might have been misinterpreted by many participants. Some of them
are here mainly to seek a connection with the powerful body of government officials, such asprosecutors or some other reasons rather than the service oriented spirit. We are in great need of help
from volunteers to reach our goals at least at the level we have designed initially. Therefore, we need a
new structure that guarantees our own volunteers can be recruited at the discretion of the probation
office. With the present organisational scheme, anticipating a greater contribution is a misnomer.
In some probation districts, the Crime Prevention Volunteer Committee does not function as it is
supposed to. It is also a general practice that the committee assigns volunteers to the offenders not fromthe probation office. The levels of assisting offenders by these members are limited in its nature ofservice application that is, micro level of engagement by means of counselling and guidance. Since theoffenders are subject to the execution of sentence or protection disposition, the levels of supervision
require an application of both micro and macro intervention from the perspectives of education,
counselling, and resource management. Therefore, volunteers from other than the probation division
may not be able to provide the offenders with relevant services. Volunteers, who are engaging in theactivities of the probation realm, should be assigned to offenders by the probation office.
4. Collaborating Agencies
It is an undeniable fact that the collaborative agencies play the major roles in the enforcement of
the Community Service Order and the Attendance Center Order. However, two factors are in need of
consideration. First, the most appropriate agencies must be selected. Second, it is necessary tosupervise the collaborating agencies to ensure the assigned work is properly carried out. The emphasisshould be placed on the quality of the agencies' supervision rather than on the increase in the numberof agencies. Since the Community Service Order and the Attendance Center Order are in their nature apart of the legal sanctions of the suspended sentence or protection disposition, the selection of proper
agencies is crucial. Selection criteria that are not related to the quality of service must be avoided.
Budget saving criteria should be carefully assessed prior to the consideration of agencies being selected.
Supervision is necessary because the enforcement of these orders are in need of strict
administrative control. In practice, the current exercise of supervision over the collaborative agencies isadministered by the crime prevention volunteers. Thus, volunteers who supervise agencies need theprofessional education of the nature and contents of those orders. We are in need of professionalising
volunteers through special educational programmes designed to strengthen their capacities.
5. Variant Forms of Volunteer Involvement
Volunteer involvement in the probation system can best be exercised through the Crime Prevention
Volunteer Committee. But we are in need of professionalising their activities, promoting citizen's
recognition of the probation operation, and designing variant forms of people's involvement both
directly as well as indirectly. In order for us to bring these suggestions into our practice, we need to leadthe citizen's recognition on the probation system in a positive direction so that a participatory
atmosphere can be created.
The current management style of the Crime Prevention Committee is not accountable in terms of
its efficiency, effectiveness, and relevancy. This committee as a system is considered to be a closed one,not an open one. As seen in the survey data, it is only open to people who happen to be associated withthem. We need to design a mechanism that can draw people from a wide range of life fields:
professionals, experts, and concerned groups so that their varied experiences can be shared with the243

RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 61
offender. More importantly, we need to recruit more professionals in the volunteer force, thus, agency
self-enforcement of community orders and attendance center orders can be extended.
The Crime Prevention Volunteer Committee as a system should come up with a viable means toprocess input from outside the system. Without a change to the current organisational structure andfunctions the efficacy of the probation operation is not predictable. The feedback channels are not in
operation. The interaction among members within its system are not reciprocal. Malfunctions of otherdivisions within the committee affect the balance of the operation negatively. The probation office as asystem of interlocking forces should regulate the ways it and its members operate, not by anothersystem or committee, if we are serious about our business.
REFERENCES
Chung, Dong-Ki (1997), Community Service Order in Korea, A Doctoral Dissertation, Han Yang
University
Chung, Dong-Ki (2001), Citizen Participation in the Probation System, Korean Association of Probation,
Vol.1, No.1, pp. 35-50
Chung, Joo-Young (2000), Laws in Probation and Parole, published by Hae Yang publisher
Chung, Woo-Sik (1987), Youth, Its Problems, and Its Solution, published by Sam Sung publisher
Chung, Woo-Sik (2000), Social Implication of Rehabilitation, Korean Association of Probation, Vol.1,
No.1, pp. 1-33
Crime Prevention Volunteer Committee (1996), Data for Crime Prevention Activities in Seoul District
Division of Administration in Supreme Court (1997), Community Service Order and the Probation
System, published by the Supreme Court
Korean Institute of Criminology (1992), Community Service Order and Its Problems, published by the
Korean Institute of Criminology
Korean Institute of Criminology (2001), A Study of the Probationers' Compliance to the Imposed
Conditions in Other Countries, published by the Korean Institute of Criminology
Korean Institute of Criminology (2001), Current Status and Suggestions for Volunteer Activities in
Criminal Procedures, published by the Korean Institute of Criminology
Kwangjoo Probation Office (2000), Lecture Text of Professional Education for Crime Prevention
Volunteers
Ministry of Justice (1994), A Study of volunteers in Other Countries, published by the Ministry ofJustice
Ministry of Justice (1998), Crime and Justice System in Korea, published by the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice (2001), An Analysis of the Enforcement of Community Service Order, published by
the Ministry of Justice
Ministry of Justice (2001), Reforms in Protection and Rehabilitation Administration In Korea,
published by the Ministry of Justice244