David E. Olson

Getting Down to Business A Comparison of Rural and Urban Probationers, Probation Sentences, and Probation Outcomes

Studies of the police and courts suggest substantial rural-urban variations in resources and in the manner in which cases are handled. Although probation is among the most frequently utilized sentencing options, little research has considered geographic variation among probationers, in the conditions of probation, or in case outcomes. This study utilizes data from every adult probationer discharged during a 4-week period (N = 2,468) in a large Midwestern state. The study focuses on rural-urban differences in probationer characteristics, probation sentence characteristics, and case outcome measures.

Predicting Probation Outcomes: Factors Associated with Probation Rearrest, Revocations, and Technical Violations during Supervision:

We examined probation outcomes in a sample of more than 2,400 discharged adult probationers in Illinois. We grouped predictor variables into three major categories (probationer characteristics, offense type, and sentence characteristics), and studied three different probation outcomes (rearrest, technical violations, and revocations). Logistic regression analyses showed that different predictors were related to different outcomes and replicated many of the results of previous research. Age, income, prior adult convictions, histories of drug abuse and dependence, and supervision setting were significant predictors of all three outcomes. Race, education, conviction offense, offense class, and sentence length predicted some of the outcomes, but not all three.

Implementing the Key Components of Specialized Drug Treatment Courts: Practice and Policy Considerations

The perceived need for specialized drug courts emerged from the most recent “war on drugs.” Courts were no longer able to handle such cases effectively because of an overwhelming volume of drug arrests and prosecutions. The increased emphasis on drug enforcement also revealed that many of the most serious criminally involved drug-using offenders were undeterred by threats of incarceration, but were amenable to substance abuse treatment. Drug court professionals have identified several “key components” that must be in place for these courts to achieve their goals of reducing drug use and crime. Through the lens of these key drug court components, we examine the development and initiation of specialized drug treatment courts in Cook County (Chicago), Illinois. By exploring and documenting Cook County’s experiences, we elucidate several of the basic policy and organizational issues surrounding the implementation and operations of specialized drug treatment courts in the United States.

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, but What Role Does Gender Play in Probation Recidivism?

Over the past decade, women have accounted for an increasing proportion of arrestees, probationers, and prison inmates. The growing number of women in the criminal justice system, and their unique characteristics and needs, has prompted a call for correctional programs to be more gender responsive and gender specific. Furthermore, gender has frequently been identified as a correlate of recidivism in correctional populations, yet due to relatively small sample sizes, conclusions and analytic methods have been somewhat limited. Using data collected from a sample of adult probationers discharged from supervision in Illinois, the current study examined the factors that predict recidivism for men and women, including variables such as demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, offense types, and sentence conditions. Results showed that a number of factors were associated with the recidivism of both male and female offenders, whereas others were associated with recidivism in one group or the other. The implications of these findings are that female probationer recidivism appears to be influenced by some different factors. Females may respond better to certain types of probation services, and they may also be overclassified in terms of risk.

The Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy: A reassessment of the CAPS program

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS), the largest community policing program in the USA.Design/methodology/approach – The data for this research come from the 1993‐1994 Citizen Survey of the Longitudinal Evaluation of Chicagos Community Policing Program. Referred to as the CAPS Prototype Panel Survey, the data were obtained from the Inter‐university Consortium for Political and Social Science Research. Both ordinary least square and log linear regression were used to analyze the data.Findings – The findings indicate that people living in the CAPS prototype districts had significantly higher levels of satisfaction with police fighting crime than people living in matched comparison areas who were not subject to the CAPS program. The findings also indicate that the residents of the CAPS prototype communities were only marginally more satisfied with police keeping order than those living in non‐CAPS communities.Research implications/limitations – Th...

A Comparison of Female and Male Probationers

Abstract A majority of women convicted of crimes are sentenced to probation. Although proportionately more women than men receive probation, little is known about female probationers. The current study is one of the few to compare the backgrounds and case outcomes of women probationers with those of men. Statewide probation discharge data were used to examine differences between male and female probationers on their individual characteristics, offense and sentencing variables, and case outcomes and to explore the effect of gender on case outcomes. A number of gender differences were identified across the probationer, sentencing and case outcome variables examined. In addition, gender had a statistically significant influence on both new arrests and technical violations, after controlling for other variables such as age, race, income, prior involvement in the criminal justice system, conviction offense and sentence length.

The Long-Term Effects of Prison-Based Drug Treatment and Aftercare Services on Recidivism

This article examines recidivism among a cohort of formerly incarcerated people released from the Sheridan Correctional Center (SCC), a dedicated drug treatment facility based on a Therapeutic Community (TC) model of prison-based drug treatment. After an average of 6.9 years post-release, the SCC releasees had a 15% lower likelihood of recidivism than the comparison group, and a 44% reduction in the likelihood of recidivism when both prison-based drug treatment and aftercare programming were accessed. The current analyses showed that the beneficial effects of prison-based drug treatment were bolstered by aftercare services and continued long after release from prison.

Comparing Male and Female Prison Releasees across Risk Factors and Postprison Recidivism

This study, using data from a large sample of prison releasees, examined the similarities and differences in mens and womens risk factors for recidivism involving rearrest for any crime and rearrest for a violent crime during an average 3.4-year follow-up period. Logistic regressions revealed several gender differences. Prior incarceration, time served, and specific types of prior arrest histories had differential associations with womens and mens overall and violent recidivism. Age, race, and conviction offense were gender-specific risk factors for overall recidivism, and education level and marital status were gender-specific risk factors for violent recidivism. Implications for risk assessment are discussed.

Distinguishing between Return to Juvenile versus Adult Prison in Juvenile Recidivism Analyses

Although considerable attention has been paid to the outcomes of adults released from prison, a notable shortcoming of the evolving reentry literature is the minimal inclusion of juveniles in recidivism analyses. Through an examination of administrative data collected by the Illinois Department of Corrections for 1,894 youth released from Illinois Youth Centers (IYC) in 2003, we sought to determine the rate at which juveniles were returned to either an IYC or an adult prison within a six-year follow-up period, and how youth demographic, legal, and social characteristics were predictive of return to prison. The analyses found that approximately 45% of the youth were returned to a juvenile facility within six years, and when admission into an adult prison was included, the recidivism rate increased to 62%. Logistic regression showed some consistencies and differences in the relationship between youth characteristics and return to either a juvenile or adult prison within the follow-up period.

Organizational Approaches to Drug Law Enforcement by Local Police Departments in the United States: Specialized Drug Units and Participation in Multi-Agency Drug Task Forces

This paper examines the factors associated with the decision of local police departments in the United States to operate specialized drug units or to participate in multi-jurisdictional drug task forces. Combining data from the Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) Survey, the 2000 Census, and the Uniform Crime Report, we use both bivariate and multivariate methods to conduct the analysis. The findings indicate that county-level agencies, those with other formalized drug control efforts, high levels of violent crime, high degrees of task specialization and formalization, and high proportions of the resident population accounted for by renters were more likely to operate drug units, participate in multi-agency drug task forces, and allocate more officers per capita to these efforts.