A scalable empathic supervision intervention to mitigate recidivism from probation and parole

Abstract

Significance Recidivism to incarceration is a pervasive and costly societal issue and its rates are historically difficult to reduce. Psychology and criminology suggest that relationships between probation and parole officers (PPOs) and adults on probation or parole (APPs) play a pivotal role in whether APPs ultimately return to incarceration and that mindsets geared toward empathy may protect the relationship from psychological barriers to productive interactions. The present research tests the efficacy an empathic-supervision exercise with PPOs to mitigate recidivism in a longitudinal, randomized placebo-controlled field experiment with 216 officers who supervise ∼20,478 APPs. As compared to a control condition, the treatment mitigated recidivism by 13% over the course of 10 mo. Incarceration is a pervasive issue in the United States that is enormously costly to families, communities, and society at large. The path from prison back to prison may depend on the relationship a person has with their probation or parole officer (PPO). If the relationship lacks appropriate care and trust, violations and recidivism (return to jail or prison) may be more likely to occur. Here, we test whether an “empathic supervision” intervention with PPOs—that aims to reduce collective blame against and promote empathy for the perspectives of adults on probation or parole (APPs)—can reduce rates of violations and recidivism. The intervention highlights the unreasonable expectation that all APPs will reoffend (collective blame) and the benefits of empathy—valuing APPs’ perspectives. Using both within-subject (monthly official records for 10 mo) and between-subject (treatment versus control) comparisons in a longitudinal study with PPOs in a large US city (NPPOs = 216; NAPPs=∼20,478), we find that the empathic supervision intervention reduced collective blame against APPs 10 mo postintervention and reduced between-subject violations and recidivism, a 13% reduction that would translate to less taxpayer costs if scaled. Together, these findings illustrate that very low-cost psychological interventions that target empathy in relationships can be cost effective and combat important societal outcomes in a lasting manner.