Needs and Risks Classifications - An Analysis of How They Interact in a Probation Setting

• NCJ Number: 87864
• Author(s): F S Taxman
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 155 pages
• Sale Source: UMI Dissertation Services
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Rutgers University - doctoral dissertation

Annotation

Analyses of 181 probationers in Suffolk County, N.Y., showed that needs and risks classifications are important in influencing the probationer's contacts with social serivce agencies.

Abstract

The study examined a model, the Probation Adjustment Scale I, used in the federally funded Improved Correctional Field Services, (ICFS) project to measure social adjustment by means of probation officers ratings of the importance of specific behavioral objectives for each probationer. Data used in this study were gathered during the ICFS project. The study found that risk and offender attributes are statistically significant contributors to explaining the average rate of probation officer-probationer face-to-face contacts. Thus, in structuring case planning, risk classification is more important than officer's perception of the probationer's need level. Risks and needs, needs alone, and supervision level, were not related to probation outcomes. The study used analyses of variance, covariance, and multiple regression to perform the analyses. Tables, illustrations, footnotes, and over 60 references are supplied. Study instruments are appended. (Author abstract modified)