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32 - Probation Decision-Making

from Part IV - Postconviction Phase Decisions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2024

Monica K. Miller
Affiliation:
University of Nevada, Reno
Logan A. Yelderman
Affiliation:
Prairie View A & M University, Texas
Matthew T. Huss
Affiliation:
Creighton University, Omaha
Jason A. Cantone
Affiliation:
George Mason University, Virginia
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Summary

Despite increasing evidence regarding the efficacy of risk assessment and intervention in community supervision, there continues to be relatively weak adherence to such evidence in its application to decision-making. Regarding assessment, such a lack of fidelity purportedly leads to higher rates of overrides, degraded accuracy, and inefficiency in resource allocation. Regarding intervention, failure to implement evidence-based practice and recognize the role of probation officers as agents of change further diminishes supervision effectiveness. With probation populations at an all-time high and a burgeoning violation rate, this chapter summarizes the emerging probation research to situate the need for clarity of purpose and improved decision-making to maintain public confidence in probation. The chapter presents a decision framework utilizing empirically informed domains as a logic model to ensure probation officer decisions are fair, transparent, and defensible. This framework incorporates both static and dynamic information to ensure decisions are accurate and contextual.

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Chapter
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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