Probation officers - pls help me with my plotline

[something2say]

Hi

I'm writing my second book / first novel and there is a baddie who has a history of violent offences, mostly against women, but not always. Alcohol is a factor, and his mother rejected him. He’s controlling and a bit more than a garden perpetrator. (I may decide this is ‘too much’ as the tone of the rest of the book is quite gentle and humorous….)

But anyway – I was a DV advisor for many years so I am used to meeting strangers and talking in detail about their lives, plus I worked out of a police station for years, did a lot of court work and worked with child protection social workers and probation officers.

BUT I don’t know how those interviews work – how do you talk with an offender about their offences? How do they present, do they groom you, flirt with you? How do you build rapport so as to ask about their thinking? What are Positive Relationship courses like?
I am struggling in making my probation officer’s work authentic because I don’t know what it looks like in real terms - can anyone help please?

So far I drafted these questions, from research....

How is this drinking/stress/depression affecting how you are with your family? When you feel like that what do you do? When you feel like that, how do you behave? Do you find yourself shouting/smashing things? Do you ever feel violent towards a particular person? – what worries you most about your behaviour – be clear that it’s a choice and always unacceptable – be aware that he’s unhappy about his behaviour too – it’s a range of behaviours – don’t back him into a corner and expect a full and honest disclosure – barriers to him acknowledging his behaviour – explain the likely costs of the behaviour – what gets you worked up, what happens when you start getting worked up?