ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the findings in light of the developmental and social-psychological implications of their experiences of Probationers with Mental Illness (PMIs). It reviews and interprets the varied roles that Probation Officers (POs) play in helping to reorient the probationers with the goal of developing more healthy and pro-social behaviors. The chapter also discusses the potential role of stigma in the contextualized findings. It addresses the issue of stigma in light of specific theoretical underpinnings: social dominance, institutional, and structural stigma; and symbolic interactionism and grounded theory. It describes the implications and recommendations for PMIs and POs; probation supervisors; and professional counseling training programs. The Theory of Cognitive Transformation is useful for describing a PMI's professed journey in leaving behind prior criminal behavior and self-destructive behaviors. In describing Giordano's theory, Healy and O'Donnell noted the following: "cognitive transformation envisions desistance as an interaction between structural and agentic factors, but posits the individual as the key driver of change".
