Melinda D. Schlager

An Examination of Changes in LSI-R Scores Over Time: Making the Case for Needs-Based Case Management

The Level of Service Inventory—Revised (LSI-R) is an actuarially derived risk assessment instrument with a demonstrated reputation and record of supportive research. It has shown predictive validity on several offender populations. Although a significant literature has emerged on the validity and use of the LSI-R, no research has specifically examined change scores or the dynamics of reassessment and its importance with respect to case management. Flores, Lowenkamp, Holsinger, and Latessa and Lowenkamp and Bechtel, among others, specifically identify the importance and need to examine LSI-R reassessment scores. The present study uses a sample of parolees (N = 179) from various community corrections programs that were administered the LSI-R at two different times. Results indicate that both mean composite and subcomponent LSI-R scores statistically significantly decreased between Time 1 and Time 2. The practical, theoretical, and policy implications of these results are discussed.

The Organizational Politics of Implementing Risk Assessment Instruments in Community Corrections

Much talk has surrounded the use of risk assessment in community corrections. Community corrections agencies continue to struggle with what risk instrument to adopt and how to implement it in a comprehensive way. One of the most important factors that impedes the successful implementation of risk assessment instruments is organizational politics. This essay evaluates some of the organizational politics that inhibit the successful implementation of risk assessment instruments and highlights several factors that can mitigate this effect.

An Assessment of Parole Officer and Administrator Attitudes on Organizational Culture and Parole Supervision in a Northeastern State

ABSTRACT Parole officer attitudes and orientation can impact offender outcome (Fulton, Stichman, Travis & Latessa, 1997) and jurisdictions that employ a balanced approach to supervision including graduated responses and treatment and services result in more favorable offender outcomes compared with jurisdictions that endorse surveillance-only policies (Sherman, Gottfredson, Eck, Reuter, & Bushway, 1997). A survey of parole officers and supervisors from 20 parole offices was conducted to determine whether agencies that employ officers with distinctly enforcement-oriented attitudes are more likely to be resistant to engage in organizational change and whether a lack of consistency among supervisor and line officer attitudes toward change and organizational culture impacts the ability of the agency to affect change. Results indicate no significant changes in attitude on the majority of scales that assessed change in the six months since EBP was initiated in this paroling agency and a lack of continuity between staff and supervisors with respect to attitudes about crime, job orientation. Implications for advancing parole practice including the difficulties associated with implementing organizational change are discussed.

What About Nonprogrammatic Factors? Women's Perceptions of Staff and Resident Relationships in a Community Corrections Setting

This study examines how women perceive nonprogrammatic factors while residing at a community corrections facility. Qualitative interview data was used to understand how women perceive and experience the social environment of the facility, and how these experiences may contribute to their adjustment and motivation. Findings include various themes that emerged during data analysis, including perceptions of staff characteristics and interactions, the environmental context, and relationships with residents. Implications for evidence-based practices and gender-responsive treatment are discussed.

Reconciling What Works and Broken Windows: The Policy Relevance of Individual and Social Correlates to Recidivism Reduction

Abstract Scholars and practitioners have devoted considerable attention to affirming offender rehabilitation (“what works”) and also arguing for the need to foster healthy social contexts in order to reduce recidivism (“broken windows”). It makes sense, therefore, to acknowledge the critical importance of both individual and social correlates of criminal behavior and to reconcile “what works” with “broken windows.” It is argued that the most serious policy issues facing community corrections have more to do with problems associated with organizational capital than with the state of knowledge about specific correctional paradigms.

Through the Looking Glass: Taking Stock of Offender Reentry:

Offender reentry has been part of the fabric of the criminal justice system since the first prison opened its doors and people who went in the front door were, at some point, released. Traditionally, the research on offender reentry has either supported best practice by determining what specific individual-level programming “works” or “doesn’t work” or it has assessed the success of programs in terms of their ability to reduce recidivism. And while we may have moved the dial in the last 50 years with respect to what we know about individual-level offender reentry attributes, there is no effective overarching narrative to explain the offender reentry phenomenon. Overwhelmingly, practitioners and academics in the criminal justice system operate within a paradigm that assesses and evaluates everything using risk. Unfortunately, a risk- or deficit-focused approach to viewing offender reentry severely limits our ability to think differently about the problem. However, if we employ a paradigm for offender reentry that focuses less on problems and more on strengths, different outcomes are possible. Work done in social work that promotes “strengths-based, solution-focused, capacity building, asset creating, motivation enhancing” empowerment models that accentuate the positive serves as an exemplar for us to use in criminal justice when discussing offender reentry. The three strengths-based principles adapted to offender reentry and discussed here are as follows: Officer–offender relationships that emphasize collaboration will promote law-abiding, prosocial behavior; offenders who are empowered will be more likely to seek to change; and cooperation from the community is key to successful offender reentry. Fiscal, political, and common sense reasons for using a strengths-based approach to offender reentry are discussed.

Risk and Resiliency of Incarcerated Mothers

Using a mixed method of inquiry of 49 women at a halfway house in New Jersey, this exploratory study evaluated factors of risk and resilience that impact incarcerated mothers. A quantitative analysis of the sample provided insights into this halfway house population, and a content analysis of case files revealed themes related to intergenerational factors and mother–child relationships. Practice, policy, and research implications of this study are discussed.