NCJ Number
54134
Date Published
1978
Length
22 pages
Annotation
A MODEL IS PROPOSED FOR MEASURING THE PERFORMANCE OF JUSTICE SYSTEMS AND APPLIED TO EVALUATE TWO CATEGORIES OF OFFENDERS FROM A BIRTH COHORT, CAREER OFFENDERS AND NONCAREER RECIDIVISTS.
Abstract
STRATEGIES DIRECTED TOWARD CAREER OFFENDERS ASSUME THAT EFFORTS TO CONTROL CRIME WILL BE MAXIMIZED BY CONCENTRATING ON OFFENDERS WHO HAVE A DEMONSTRATED RECORD OF SERIOUS CRIME. THIS ASSUMPTION IS BASED ON EVIDENCE THAT THERE IS A SMALL PROPORTION OF ALL OFFENDERS RESPONSIBLE FOR A LARGE PROPORTION OF SERIOUS OFFENSES. CRIME CONTROL EFFORTS THAT ATTEMPT TO BE RATIONAL AND EFFICIENT MUST BE CONCERNED WITH TWO MAJOR FACTORS: THE RATE AT WHICH OFFENDERS COMMIT OFFENSES AND THE PERFORMANCE OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM. THE JUSTICE SYSTEM MODEL IS COMPRISED OF THREE TERMS, INVOLVING THE PROBABILITY OF CONVICTION GIVEN THE COMMISSION OF AN OFFENSE, THE PROBABILITY OF INCARCERATION GIVEN CONVICTION, AND THE AMOUNT OF TIME SERVED ON AN INCARCERATION SENTENCE. BY USING THIS MODEL, POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF SPECIAL CRIME CONTROL EFFORTS CAN BE MADE EXPLICIT. FOUR KINDS OF DATA ARE REQUIRED TO COMPUTE VALUES FOR THE MODEL: NUMBER OF OFFENSES COMMITTED BY AN OFFENDER, NUMBER OF CONVICTIONS RESULTING FROM OFFENSES, NUMBER OF INCARCERATIONS THAT RESULT FROM CONVICTIONS, AND ACTUAL AMOUNT OF TIME SERVED FOR INCARCERATIONS. JUSTICE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE WAS EVALUATED FOR CAREER OFFENDERS WITH FIVE OR MORE TOTAL ARRESTS AND FOR NONCAREER RECIDIVISTS WITH TWO, THREE, OR FOUR TOTAL ARRESTS. DATA SHOWED THAT OFFENSES COMMITTED BY CAREER OFFENDERS ARE MORE LIKELY TO RESULT IN CONVICTION THAN ARE OFFENSES COMMITTED BY NONCAREER RECIDIVISTS. CAREER OFFENDER CONVICTIONS ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE FOLLOWED BY INCARCERATION, AND THE AMOUNT OF TIME SERVED DURING INCARCERATION IS LONGER. THREE CONCLUSIONS ARE REACHED: (1) THE PERFORMANCE LEVEL OF THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IS RELATIVELY LOW IN TERMS OF AN INCARCERATION RISK TO OFFENDERS WHO COMMIT INDEX OFFENSES; (2) THE JUSTICE SYSTEM IS MOST EFFICIENT IN THE CASE OF CAREER OFFENDERS; AND (3) THE JUVENILE JUSTICE SYSTEM PERFORMS AT A LOWER LEVEL OF EFFICIENCY THAN THE ADULT JUSTICE SYSTEM, BASED ON THE FINDING THAT THE JUSTICE SYSTEM VARIED SYSTEMATICALLY BY OFFENDER AGE. POLICY ISSUES RAISED BY THE FINDINGS PERTAIN TO JUSTICE SYSTEM TRACTABILITY AND FISCAL, ORGANIZATIONAL, AND POLITICAL CONSTRAINTS. FOOTNOTES AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY, AS WELL AS SUPPORTING DATA ARE INCLUDED. AN APPENDIX CONTAINS FORMULAS USED AS A BASIS FOR THE JUSTICE SYSTEM MODEL. (DEP)