Norman Holt

Prisoner intellectual and personality correlates of offense severity and recidivism probability.

Multiple regression analyses were performed relating the severity of offense and probability of recidivism of 295 prison inmates to their performance on the MMPI and AGCT. The MMPI was found to be correlated with recidivism probability and the recidivism-related component of the Offense Severity variable, while AGCT IQ was found to be correlated with recidivism probability and the non-recidivism-related component of the Offense Severity variable. The implications for future research were discussed regarding this selective sensitivity of the MMPI to recidivism-related variables.

Determinate Sentencing in California The First Year's Experience

DAVID BREWER: Research Analyst, GERALD E. BECKETT: Research Analyst, NORMAN HOLT: Research Manager, Southern California Research Group, California Department of Corrections, Chino. California’s enactment of determinate sentencing came as a major event in the widespread abandonment of correctional rehabilitation. The law was initially a compromise between the interests of law enforcement and those of civil liberties and prisoner’s rights groups. Penalties were soon increased, however, by amendments favorable to law enforcement. Total imprisonment has increased substantially under the new law, mainly because of an increasing commitment rate. Data for the first year show that

Personality Patterns among Short-Term Prisoners Undergoing Presentence Evaluations

The MMPI profiles of 295 short-term prisoners undergoing presentence evaluations were cluster-analyzed, resulting in four distinct groups. These groups differed in IQ, on recidivism-related characteristics reflected in a Base Expectancy score and an estimate of extensiveness of arrest record, and on type of psychiatric-psychological recommendation made to the referring courts. However, they did not differ on age, educational level, or the severity of their offenses. In comparing these results with those of other typological investigations of offender groups, it was tentatively concluded that these short-term prisoners being considered for probation seem less emotionally disturbed than those serving sentences for custodial or other purposes.

Social Roles and Information Utilization in Parole Decision-Making

Preparole evaluations conducted by prison caseworkers were compared with board action and parole outcome on 421 cases heard by the California Adult Authority during 1968-1969. These two groups of decision-makers emphasized different considerations in performing their tasks, with board members focusing primarily on the seriousness of the most recent offense and caseworkers weighting recidivism-related variables. Furthermore, board decisions were unrelated to subsequent parole performance, and a weak relationship was seen between self-reported and actual utilization of offender case information by board members. The findings, discussed in terms of social role differences between caseworkers and board members, were intepreted as consistent with the need for guidelines which structure and limit the discretion of personnel making prison release recommendations and decisions.

Correctional Classification and the Prediction of Institutional Adjustment

Each of 293 minimum security prisoners was rated by classification of staff members according to the likelihood of serious disciplinary infractions and escapes from custody. Follow-up data were then obtained, and the predictive validity of these ratings was compared with that of selected information extracted from the files of inmates. In predicting outcomes, only escape ratings were statistically significant, and neither escape nor disciplinary ratings contributed significant criterion variance when combined with objective variables. The findings were discussed in terms of the need for both increased predictive accuracy and explicit consideration of the welfare of inmates when making correctional classification decisions.

Personality patterns among correctional officer applicants

The MMPI profiles of 359 correctional officer applicant were cluster analyzed, which resulted in the identification of five relatively homogeneous subgroups. While MMPI performance was not related to later events in the correctional careers of the Ss, certain similarities were noted between the officer group and two samples of inmates previously studied in a comparable fashion. In this respect, although the officers manifested generally lower profile elevations than inmates, configural similarities were noted between the average inmate and the officer profiles, and partial overlap was seen between the profile types identified in the two groups. The implications of the findings for occupationally adaptive and maladaptive correctional officer behavior were discussed.

Utilization of offender case information by “lenient” vs. “punitive” clinicians

Presentence evaluations conducted by psychologists and psychiatrists (clinicians) and correctional counselors (caseworkers) were subjected to multiple regression analyses in order to specify the relative contribution of inmate characteristics (offense severity and recidivism probability) and decision-maker response biases to sentencing recommendations. Although both groups of decision-makers showed a response bias effect for cases that were difficult to discriminate, the effect was generally larger for clinicians than for caseworkers. Response bias (lenient vs. punitive) was not associated with type of clinical judgment model (linear vs. configural) or predictability of recommendation, although it was associated with the degree of relative weighting of the two independent variables and, in the case of extremely punitive decision-makers, with the tendency to utilize only one evaluative dimension (offense severity) to the exclusion of the other. Furthermore, it was found that inmates who committed the most serious offenses were exposed selectively to those decision-makers most likely both to place exclusive emphasis on offense severity and to recommend relatively punitive case dispositions. The need for an accountability system designed to minimize the effects of the response biases of correctional decision-makers was discussed.