Probation in a Pennsylvania criminal defense case is a type of sentence that would be used either in lieu of a jail or prison sentence or in addition to a jail or prison sentence. It would be supervision by the court, by a probation or parole department to make certain that the defendant, the offender remains compliant with his or her expectations of the court. Otherwise, probation, a person would have to remain out of trouble. They would not be allowed to have any further arrests. There often would be other conditions per the probation to maintain employment to potentially provide negative drug screens.
A person may have to do community service. There might be some additional conditions such as counseling services of some kind domestic violence counseling, depending on the nature of the case, mental health counseling dependency treatment, outpatient treatment. Probation, although, if a person got to that point in the criminal process in Pennsylvania, it would be state say they were often convicted or found guilty of a criminal offense, but probation can be, or would be a better sentence than obviously going to jail or president.
Because of what's involved them because of what's at stake, a Pennsylvania criminal defense attorney can help you understand the probation process. They should be involved from as early as possible in your case.