Social Factors in Probation: Calculating Probationer Risk

Prior record(s) have a huge impact on the decisions to sentence and the duration of time served. The conclusions in the Criminal Behavior and Mental Health article showed, “There is a distinct advantage when attempting to predict recidivism to employing measures such as the LSI-R, which includes dynamic variables and intervention related criminogenic domains, over a measure purely of fixed characteristics, such as the GSIR; however, if there is discordance between the risk estimates, caution should be exercised and more reliance on the more static historically based instrument may be indicated.” (MILLS & KRONER, P. 155) Meaning that prior records cannot change, they are a static dynamic and will be looked with more emphasis than the risk assessment when determining to release the offender.

“The Prison and Probation Service has two main goals: To contribute to the reduction of criminality, and to work to increase safety in society. To achieve these goals we work with sentenced persons in order to improve their possibilities of living a life without committing new crimes.” (Linstrom and Leijonram)

At any given time, there are approximately 2 million American citizens incarcerated and nearly 700,000 inmates returning to their communities each year. (Petitt & Western, 2004; Western, 2001). Since most prisoners are eventually released, mass incarceration has in turn produced a steep rise in the number of individuals reentering society and undergoing the process of social and economic reintegration. (Travis, 2005). During the period between 1982 and 2007, the number of Americans incarcerated in jails and prisons increased by 274% (Pew Center on the States, 2009). In addition to the increase of the individuals incarcerated, there is an even larger amount of individuals under community supervision, with a recent study finding that one in every 48 American adults are either on probation or parole on any given day (Glaze & Bonczar, 2011). Recent statistics show that the percentage of parolees re-incarcerated after release currently stands at 32% (Maruschak and Parks, 2012).

Probation serves as the most frequently used sentence for those convicted. This is evident when you consider that the United States justice system oversees nearly 7 million people. Over half of those, a staggering 3.7 million people, are on probation with another 840,000 on parole (Rabuy, 2017). With those individuals representing the largest percentage of the American corrections system, it is important that we learn as much as possible about probation in order to improve the success of these programs. Probation involves a set of conditions that the probationer agrees to adhere to in exchange for remaining in the community. Typical conditions include a waiver of the offenders fourth amendment rights, maintaining employment or school

The RNR model first came into existence in nineteen ninety, over the following twenty years, the Risk Need and Responsivity Principles became the core of the theoretical frameworks used in correctional systems around the world. It proposes that misconceptions, unrealistic and mistranslations of the model in practice are contributing to concerns about its validity and utility and stifling needed improvement in the development in certain areas such as Female offending and both treatment resources, and of RNR interventions. Founded on three core principles of offender classification—Risk, Need and Responsivity—today the RNR model is one of a few models used however, the RNR model remains an important empirically validated guide for criminal

Worksheets, such as the Missouri and Washington Risk Assessments are valuable tools used by criminal justice practitioners. Moreover, Risk Assessment scales are used in both formal and informal capacities, to determine the potential risk or harm an individual poses to society should he or she be released from detention or custody. The following is an example of how the Missouri and Washington Risk Assessment worksheets can be utilized when applied in two completely different cases; it is important to remember that the primary purpose of both Risk Assessment Scales are to identify specific classifications of juvenile offenders. Offenders are classified on a scale of being low, moderate, or at high-risk behavior and each assessment places

Corrections: The Fundamentals, by Burk Foster. Published by Prentice-Hall. Copyright © 2006 by Pearson Education,

After controlling for pre-Realignment and post-Realignment release differences, Bird and Grattet (2016) found that that bookings rose by 2.6%, which indicates that different recidivism measures yield very different outcomes. Further examination found that felony arrests (4.7%) and felony convictions (1.9%) significantly increased for Post-Release Community Supervision offenders succeeding Realignment, which indicate a moderate recidivism increase. The researchers concluded that “offenders whose supervision shifted from state parole to county probation under Realignment were substantially more likely to be rearrested and reconvicted for serious crimes than their pre-Realignment counterparts” (Bird & Grattet, 2016, p. 188). However, they advised precaution and consideration when interpreting findings since the state and county systems’ operations, such as arrests and bookings, differ and different recidivism measures can potentially affect the interpretation of Realignment results as more, less, or not

The community supervision population (including probationers and parolees, down 1.5%) and the incarcerated population (including local jail inmates and federal and state prisoners, down 1.3%) decreased at about the same rate in 2011. (Glaze and Parks 2012, p. 1) Both the correctional population and community supervision (probation and parole) dropped for three years in a row. Another conclusion that can be drawn from the reports are that the decrease in probation and the decline in correctional population

"Approximately 1 in 51 adults in the United States was under community supervision at yearend 2013, the lowest rate observed since 1996" (Herberman & Bonczar, 2014, p.1). Probation/parole supervision also known as "community" supervision, helps individuals (ex-criminals) acclimate back in their community. Probation is used when a judge chooses to let the offender serve his sentence under officer supervision in the community, rather than in prison. It is usually given to individuals that have committed a non-violent/ minor infraction or that have a really good defense attorney. However, when someone has been sent to prison for an extended period of time but have served a certain amount of their time or has proven to the Parole Board that they have improved their behavior, will be released to a Parole officer. The probation and parole program is comprised of two approaches casework and brokerage. Casework approach deals with the offender as a flawed person that needs help; brokerage approach is when the probation/parole officer uses his influence in the community to assist the criminal in finding employment or programs. Knowing how to use these approaches along with monitoring techniques will assist in the officer and offender being successful. This paper will examine the approaches to PO work along with the types of monitoring used to keep track of offenders. The purpose of this paper is to examine the elements of community supervision (probation/parole) that will make the

Both jail and prison offer some type of early released programs, in this case probation and parole will briefly be discussed. Probation is a prison sentence that is suspended on the condition that the offender follow certain prescribed rules and commit no further crime (Seiter, 2008). Parole is similar to probation except that it is after a period of incarceration, which involved determinate and indeterminate sentencing (Seiter, 2008). The other types of prison sentencing include mandatory minimums, three-strike laws, and truth-in-sentencing (Wilson, 2001). The only difference is that a parole board allows convicts to serve the remainder of their term in society under supervision and strict limitations (Wilson, 2001). In summary both jails and prisons should strive to provide as much educational, health, and counseling opportunities as possible to reduce the likelihood of recidivism. Second, funding for the jail and prison systems will be briefly discussed.

There are many various risk prediction scales that are being use to assess offenders. By using these risk assessments on offenders we are able to determine whether the offender is a high, medium, or low risk to the society. The Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R) is an assessment that consists of a series of questions that are answered by the offender. LSI-R uses all of the following factors “criminal history, education/employment, financial, family, accommodation, leisure, companions, alcohol/drug problems, emotional/personal, and attitudes” (LSI-R, 2015) when assessing an offender. With the score generated from the LSI-R and opinions from correction professional we can determine whether the offender risk of recidivism is high,

A probation sentence generally involves suspension of of the offender's sentence in return for the promise of good behavior in the community under supervision of a probation officer. Promising to hold or suspend a prison term while the latter promises to follow a set of rules or conditions that are mandated by the court. The effectiveness varies by the offense behavior of offenders. Women are more likely to be placed on probation for drug or property offenses, and men are sentenced for violence or driving under the influence. Women perform better while being placed on probation and have respect toward technical violations and new

Many criminal justice scholars have studied general deterrence and the effectiveness of this model of criminal justice sentencing is often debated. The way that the deterrence model is currently being conducted in the criminal justice system is by the use of sentencing and then using probation to relieve the stress on the population assigned to prisons and jails. Probation focuses on modifying behavior of the convicted offender in order to have them behave in a more acceptable manner, according to societal norms. Klingele wrote, “Although probation historically involved close mentoring and monitoring by probation officers, growing caseloads and resource constraints often result in lax supervision and uneven enforcement of the conditions of supervision” (p. 1631). This is a major issue with the effectiveness of the probation system.

Research on recidivism reveals a variety of different ways to define and measure its effectiveness on the outcome. One instrument widely used in assessing offenders is the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R). The LSI-R was developed with short-term offenders and community supervisees. It assesses largely risk factor for recidivism and is designed to inform parole management decisions (Manchak et al., 2008). The 54 items of the LSI-R assess ten “risk-needs” factors: criminal history, education/employment, financial, family/marital, accommodation, leisure/recreation, peers/companions, alcohol/drug problems, emotional/personal, and attitude/orientation (p. 478). Results indicate that the LSI-R moderately predicts general, but not necessarily violent recidivism (p. 477). The utility of the LSI-R in predicting community recidivism is well established for probationers and minor offenders.