NCJ Number
95574
Date Published
1983
Length
156 pages
Annotation
The probation experiences of 2,756 misdemeanants indicated that probationer supervision during the study period was not a cost-effective means to increase successful probation outcomes.
Abstract
Data were collected from the Hamilton County Municipal Court (Ohio) from January 1981 through December 1982. Items measured were probationer background; degree of supervision; probationer behavior; probation officer's recommendation on whether to terminate probation; cost of providing supervision; and amounts collected from probationers for court costs, fines, and restitution. After assessing risk using a standard scale, probationers were randomly assigned to a supervision category (unsupervised, minimum, and maximum). To quantify these relationships, a formal measure of probationer conduct was developed, the Degree of Successful Completion of Probation (DSCP). DSCP apparently measured probation success or failure; the average DSCP score among successful probation experiences was 16 compared to 263 for those classified as failures. Increases in DSCP, failure rates, costs incurred, cost overruns, and a decrease in total receipts generally coincided with risk increases, supervision, and multiple probation experiences. Among subsequent probation experiences, however, the opposite relationship held. DSCP as a measure of probation misbehavior apparently correlated with probation violation warrants being issued by probation officers. This indicates that probation management can confidently use the DSCP to indicate whether and when probation officers should modify their relationships with probationers. Tables, reports produced by the computerized data analysis, and probation forms are supplied. (Author abstract modified)