1937 Revisited: “Is There a Measure of Probation Success?”
In 1937, when the federal system of probation was still quite new, U.S. Department of Justice Statistician Bennet Mead wrote an article that reveals how our system was even then seeking objective means of measuring success. The approaches he describes may sound primitive, but the desire to find a credible standard of measurement and basis for critique is quite contemporary.
Bennet Mead
Year-in-Review Report of the Federal Probation and Pretrial Services System
We provide primarily statistical excerpts from the 2004 fiscal year report of the Federal Probation and Pretrial Services system.
The Office of Probation and Pretrial Services
Evidence of Professionalism or Quackery: Measuring Practitioner Awareness Of Risk/Need Factors and Effective Treatment Strategies
While the principles of effective correctional intervention are well established in the correctional literature, there is a growing suspicion that correctional practitioners remain unaware of this knowledge base. The authors examine the level of knowledge that correctional practitioners have of the “what works” literature by asking them to identify empirically relevant criminogenic needs and empirically supported treatment modalities.
Anthony W. Flores, Amanda L. Russell, Edward J. Latessa, Lawrence F. Travis III
Restorative Justice Dialogue: The Impact of Mediation and Conferencing on Juvenile Recidivism
In a time of accountability, tight budgets, and closing of restorative justice programs, restorative justice practitioners and policy makers need to utilize effectiveness data to make decisions about program development and funding. Measuring the effect of restorative justice practices on recidivism is one clear way of doing so.
William Bradshaw, David Roseborough
Motivational Interviewing for Probation Staff: Increasing the Readiness to Change (Part 1)
In the field of criminal justice, evidence-based practice has recommended that justice staff be responsive to motivational issues with offenders. This first of a two-part article demonstrates practical ways to respond to that recommendation.
Michael D. Clark
Getting Serious About Corrections
“Getting Serious” means identifying evidence-based practices for defendant/offender conditions and then “front-loading” treatment to address conditions from the point of entry to the criminal justice system.
Vincent D. Basile
Personal Ads From Prisoners: Do Inmates Tell the Truth About Themselves?
Training for corrections professionals and volunteers universally includes warnings about the attempts of inmates to mislead staff and gain some form of personal advantage. However, those outside of corrections may also be susceptible to the manipulations and scams of prison inmates. This study of personal ads from prisoners attempts to determine the level of prisoner believability when prisoners communicate with “outsiders.”
Richard Tewksbury
Juvenile Focus
Reviews of Professional Periodicals
Your Bookshelf on Review
It Has Come to Our Attention
Contributors to This Issue
Index of 2005 Articles and Reviews