NCJ Number
55594
Date Published
1975
Length
10 pages
Annotation
CORRECTIONAL DECISIONMAKING IS EXAMINED IN THE AREAS OF OFFENDER CLASSIFICATION AND PAROLE.
Abstract
AFTER SENTENCING, IT IS LEFT TO THE CORRECTIONAL PERSONNEL TO MAKE DECISIONS THAT MAY HAVE IMPORTANT IMPACTS ON THE OUTCOME OF SENTENCING FOR EACH OFFENDER. OF MAJOR IMPORTANCE IS THE 'CLASSIFICATION' DECISION, WHICH TYPICALLY REFERS TO THE ASSIGNMENT OF PERSONS TO INSTITUTIONS OR INSTITUTIONAL PROGRAMS. DECISIONMAKING IN THIS AREA IS HEAVILY DEPENDENT UPON EMPIRICAL TESTING OF THE EFFECTS OF VARIOUS PROGRAMS ON A VARIETY OF OFFENDERS WITH VARYING CHARACTERISTICS. CLASSIFICATION DECISIONMAKING IS IMPROVED AS OFFENDER CHARACTERISTICS ARE MORE PRECISELY RELATED TO PROGRAM COMPONENTS THAT PRODUCE THE DESIRED OUTCOMES WITH A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF OFFENDERS WHOSE CHARACTERISTICS ARE ISOLATED. TO THE EXTENT THAT CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES ADOPT GOALS OF MODIFYING BEHAVIOR TO REDUCE THE PROBABILITY OF LAW VIOLATIONS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE AVAILABLE AT EACH DECISION POINT CLASSIFICATION INFORMATION WHICH WILL INDICATE THE SETTING AND METHODS MOST LIKELY TO ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS. PAROLE IS AN AREA OF CORRECTIONS WHICH PROVIDES A GOOD BASIS FOR DISCUSSION OF THE PRESENTLY LIMITED KNOWLEDGE OF DECISIONMAKING, CLASSIFICATION, AND PREDICTION METHODS. VARIOUS STUDIES DESIGNED TO PROVIDE CRITERIA FOR PREDICTING FUTURE BEHAVIOR FOR USE BY PAROLE BOARDS ARE BRIEFLY MENTIONED. SOME PREDICITON METHODS HAVE PROVEN HELPFUL AS AIDS IN INCREASING THE DEGREE OF DEFINED SUCCESS FOR PAROLEES. IMPROVED CORRECTIONAL DECISIONMAKING PROCEDURES CAN ONLY HAPPEN, HOWEVER, WHEN AN ADEQUATE RECORDKEEPING, ANALYSIS, AND FEEDBACK SYSTEM HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED IN RELATION TO THE VARIABLES EMPIRICALLY ESTABLISHED AS RELEVANT TO THE DECISION TO BE MADE. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (RCB)