PROBATION MEASUREMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (FROM PROJECT SEARCH - INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE INFORMATION AND STATISTICS SYSTEM - PROCEEDINGS, 1972, BY GARY COOPER - SEE NCJ-09380)

• NCJ Number: 48301
• Author(s): M W HERRING
• Date Published: 1972
• Length: 4 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice; Project Search (See Search Group Inc)
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A PROBATION MEASUREMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (PMIS) IS BEING DEVELOPED BY THE LOS ANGELES COUNTY PROBATION DEPARTMENT TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE VALIDATION PHASE OF THE PROBATION PERFORMANCE MEASURES PROJECT.

Abstract

THE PMIS (LOS ANGELES, CALIF.) WILL BE USED IN THE COLLECTION AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF RECIDIVISM AND CASEWORK INSTRUMENTATION DATA. AS PART OF THE PROJECT, DATA WILL BE COLLECTED ON OFFENDER CHARACTERISTICS FACILITATING/INHIBITING REHABILITATION IN THE AREAS OF SOCIAL FUNCTIONING, INTERNAL CONTROLS, AND PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS. DATA ON THE PROBATION OFFICER'S CASEWORK EFFORT WILL ALSO BE COLLECTED AND WILL INCLUDE INFORMATION ON CONTACTS WITH AGENTS SUCH AS SOCIAL WORKERS AND EMPLOYERS WHO INFLUENCE THE OFFENDER'S ENVIRONMENT, COUNSELING RELATIONS MEASURES, AND SCHEDULING OF SURVEILLANCE CONTACTS. CASEWORK EFFECTS WILL BE MEASURED IN TERMS OF OFFENDER CHANGE IN SOCIAL FUNCTIONING, INTERNAL CONTROLS, AND PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS. WHILE SOME DATA WILL BE COLLECTED USING INSTRUMENTS ALREADY VALIDATED, MOST ITEMS WILL BE IN SCALES DEVELOPED DURING THE FIRST 12 TO 18 MONTHS OF THE PROJECT. AS A MAJOR PORTION OF DATA COLLECTION WILL BE UNDERTAKEN BY PROBATION OFFICERS, RANDOM AND BIASING ERRORS COULD EASILY BE INTRODUCED INTO THE DATA THROUGH ROLE AND/OR PROBABILITY EXPECTATIONS OR SITUATIONAL STRESS FACTORS WHICH CAN AFFECT BOTH INTERVIEWER AND RESPONDENT BEHAVIORS. A NUMBER OF SOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO CONTROL SUCH ERRORS. THESE INCLUDE STANDARDIZATION OF CASEWORK ELEMENTS, SIMPLIFICATION OF DATA COLLECTION, COLLECTION OF REDUNDANT DATA, PROBLEM ANALYSIS, DATA COLLECTION TRAINING AND PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND FEEDBACK FOR PROBATION OFFICERS, AND CREATION OF A SPECIAL INTERVIEW TEAM WITHOUT CASEWORK RESPONSIBILITIES. WHILE SPECIFIC ELEMENTS OF THE PMIS DATA BASE WILL NOT BE KNOWN UNTIL SOME OF THE CASEWORK ELEMENTS HAVE BEEN DEFINED, THE UNIT RECORD WILL BE AT THE LEVEL OF THE PROBATION CASE. SUBRECORDS WILL INCLUDE PROBATIONER IDENTIFIERS, COMPLETED DATA SCHEDULES, ITEM SCORES ON SCALES, TIME SEQUENCE INDICATORS, AND PROBATION OFFICER INFORMATION. THE FUNCTIONS OF THE SYSTEM'S DATA ANALYSIS COMPONENT WILL BE TO PERFORM COMPUTATIONS OF ESTIMATES OF RELIABILITY FOR SUMMATED SCORES AND THEIR VALIDITY WITH RESPECT TO RECIDIVISM CRITERIA, TO PERFORM BASIC ANALYTIC OPERATIONS OF SCALE DEFINITIONS AND SCORING, AND TO GENERATE POINT-BISERIAL CORRELATION OF EACH ITEM WITH TOTAL SCALE SCORE. ONCE USED, SCALE DEFINITIONS WILL BE INCLUDED IN THE SYSTEM'S DATA DESCRIPTION AND DEFINITIONS. SCORES FOR SCALES PROVED RELIABLE CAN BE RECALLED, AND SCALES CAN THEN BE ANALYZED FOR VALIDTY BY MULTIPLE REGRESSION OR FACTOR ANALYSIS. REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (JAP)