Chris Hecht Genres Place in Parole Work While studying genre, many authors have shown similar thought

in the way genre can be defined as well as how widely it can vary across different discourse communities that are not only academic but used in the workplace as well. One of the ways that genre can be understood, as written by Miller, is that it can serve as social action in different aspects of everyday interactions. If one were to study genre, they would find that a specific genre is not onedimensional. Carolyn Millers work has been extremely important in the progress of classifying genre as social action. Miller states, a genre becomes a complex of formal and substantive features that create a particular effect in a given situation (67). This means that genre is ever changing given a situation any persons may find themselves in. This is to say that genre can also create new norms for discourse communities, no matter their arena, whether its academic or professional. One article compiled by Devitt, Bawarshi, & Reiff gives great examples of genre producing a social action. For example, Devitt researches instructions given to a jury during a trial. The consequences that can occur when giving these instructions is that the jargon used in said instructions is not language that the members of the jury are used to. For example, a word such as might is given, but with the legal jargon in place that could mean something completely different than the members of the jury know it to mean. A second article written by Bawarshi researches the action that a Patient Medical History Form (PMHF) can serve in its given discourse community. In this specific genre, the PMHF uses its own specific jargon as well, such as the symptoms a patient is

displaying. This is necessary to the genre because it dictates how the patient should be treated to those professionals in the discourse community. In a different genre, say in business, no person in that discourse community would have to fill out a form that would require they fill out the symptoms of another person. It all boils down to which jargon needs to be used in which discourse community to ensure effectiveness. Many authors agree that to fully understand genre, a writer must be knowledgeable of the conventions and norms contained within their given discourse community. Genre as a social action (Miller) is a pertinent topic when talking about genre, but there is still more to be said about it. More research can be done to bridge the gap between situatedness (Berkenkotter & Hucken) and social action (Miller). I have found two samples from specific genres that are used by parole officers in everyday dealings with criminals looking for a second chance; a parole agreement and a final probation report. My intent is to take these samples and show just how they exemplify the social action that Miller had discussed, while connecting them to the situatedness that Berkenkotter & Hucken have argued for as well. Acquiring this kind of knowledge about genre is of high importance to parole officers because they are dealing with people who have broken laws and in some cases have the ability to hurt innocent people. Therefore, a parole officer must be able to understand and realize what the purpose of their writing is so that they may protect those innocent people and rehabilitate those who have broken the laws and help them understand the laws they must abide by while under parole. The first, the parole agreement, is used everyday by a parole officer in the specific situation of a criminally charged person in the prison system trying to exemplify that they

are ready to return to society. The agreement outlines all the terms and conditions of parole for the person seeking it, just like any other contract would outline terms and conditions (job, divorce, etc.). Specifically, some of these terms would include whether or not the person can travel out of state, see their children if they have any, if they need to find a job, and give them the date their parole ends, in which a decision will be made if the person will go back to prison or if they will remain free. The second, a final probation report, determines whether or not a person has successfully completed their parole without violating the terms set by an officer, or if an officer sees fit to extend parole for X amount of time, which could be six months, or it could be one year. Along with this report are several more papers that display the terms of the conditions of parole along with a scale that measures how well each condition was met, ranging from unsatisfactory to outstanding. Some examples of these conditions include attendance and dependability, quantity of work, and initiative and judgment. There are also spaces in which the person filling out the form can add their own conditions and gauge the parolees progress as well. The parole officer, or possibly an employer that the parolee was under the supervision of can gauge their success but also can give comments and explanations as to why the parolee received the grade they did. These genres are used as social action (Miller) because they serve a purpose in our society that is vital. This purpose is to keep an eye on criminals and ensure that while on parole or probation they are meeting the standards that have been set and are no longer a threat to others in society. If a parolee were to violate one of these standards then they immediately go back to prison, thus eliminating the threat they attempted to cause or possibly successfully caused while on parole. This genre, for those who both read and

write it, fulfills what it is to earn a place back in society for someone who was previously criminal. This parole agreement is one of the only things standing between a parolee and a return back to society. So essentially the purpose in a way is to give someone a second chance at a life outside of criminal activity. In this discourse community there is jargon that is used that people on the outside might not understand. For example, within the parole agreement one of the conditions is controlled substances. This means that the parolee cannot use, purchase or possess any drugs unless prescribed by a licensed physician, at which point the parole officer must be notified. Another condition is restitutions. Restitutions are fines that a parolee must pay on a set schedule determined by the division in which their respective parole officer works. In these cases of jargon, a person outside of the discourse community, which one could argue includes parolees, would need these terms explicitly explained so that they may understand what is being agreed upon. There is a brief description under each condition but it could be argued that these brief descriptions could still leave readers outside of the discourse community in the dark, so to speak. An example of a description that could cause such a problem is the description for search which states, you shall submit to a search of your person, automobile, or any place of residence, by a Parole Officer, at any time of the day or night with a warrant, upon reasonable cause as ascertained by the Parole Officer (parole.nv.gov, 1). The person reading this may have a different definition for reasonable cause than that of the parole officer, and if the person reading the description is the parolee then that could cause some problems in the future as they may not find a cause for search reasonable that the parole officer declares reasonable and so on.

These two genres, the parole agreement and the final probation report, both contain roughly the same content. Both require the signature of the parole officer and the parolee to signify both have read it and that the terms presented are agreeable, so one cannot go back later and dispute the conditions. Both are outlined as a contract with subheadings containing more specific information underneath. The sentences are short, about one or two sentences, and written simply and relatively clearly. The sentences are written actively because they state the exact terms that must be agreed upon. They do not circle around the topic, they get right down to it. I use the term relatively because the use of jargon does not make the subtext under the heading crystal clear all the time. In order to know and understand the genre, the person writing it must have a background in the criminal field, as well as a bit of background in law. This isnt to say they have to be a lawyer, but they need to be aware of state, city, or even county laws. The reader, in order to appreciate it, should have the same type of background. Again, they dont have to be a parole officer or a lawyer, but they should be aware of laws and the criminal field. This is to say that if there is no present knowledge of this genre by a person they could be excluded based on this fact. The content in these genres that is considered most important is all the terms and conditions that the parolee must agree to. That is the whole reason for the genre, to have the offender agree to these terms and successfully complete them to be free of going back to prison. The signatures are important as well because they signify the agreement to abide by the contract by both the parolee and the parole officer. Both of these genres are typical in the corrections field. They are necessary to regulate and control behavior by an offender under any given circumstance.

Situatedness, as described in the article by Berkenkotter & Huckin, continues to develop as we participate in the activities of the culture (482). This is to say that the more a writer becomes involved in certain situations of a discourse community, the more their writing will change based on the cultural influences around them. The article also refers to situated cognition, or the knowledge that is inextricably a product of the activity and situations in which it is produced(485). Again, this is to say that the situations that parole officers find themselves in with parolees influences their writing based on the varied situations that they take part in. For example, based on the personality or mental state of a parolee, a parole officer may tailor their writing to serve different purposes based on the traits of the parolee, while still conforming to the norms that are required. I found situatedness and social action to be interconnected in the way that in order for a genre to be most effective, the writer has to use it in the right situation. In the case of my genre samples, if a parole officer were to write a parole agreement for any other purpose than parole, it would make absolutely no logical sense whatsoever. The parole agreement is to be used in one specific situation in which it is most effective. Other genres could be effective in different situations, but there are certain situations in which the genre was intended due to its effectiveness in that given situation. It is important that parole officers master the jargon and the authority necessary to be successful within the discourse community. Since parole officers work with criminal human beings who may or may not still be volatile, they must have a mastery of what each term of the parole agreement is stating so that the criminals they are trying to help know and feel they are in more than capable hands when it comes to dealing with turning

their life around. In the same case, if the parole officer lacks the authority necessary to successful within the genre, then the parolee whom they are trying to help will not feel confident that their life essentially is in their hands. In any given genre and discourse community it is necessary for those who participate to be able to gain success within it.

Works Cited Devitt, Amy J., Bawarshi, Anis, & Reiff, Mary Jo. (2003). Materiality and Genre in the Study of Discourse Communities. College English, Vol. 65 (no. 5), 101-109. Miller, Carolyn, R. (1984). Genre As Social Action. Quarterly Journal of Speech, Vol. 70, 151-167. State of Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety Parole Agreement. http://parole.nv.gov/sites/parole/files/pdf/forms/agreemt.htm Non-Exempt Final Probation Report. Towson University. http://wwwnew.towson.edu/adminfinance/hr/employeerelations/documents/NEFi nalProbReport_Link.pdf