The Level of Supervision Over Individuals on Probation Affects the Rate of Recidivism

Faculty Mentor Name

Karen Meunier

Format Preference

Poster

Abstract

Placing an individual on probation that was found guilty of a criminal violation has dated back as far as 1841. The Boston Police Court released an individual who was arrested for public intoxication to the custody of John Augustus, a Boston cobbler, who later was coined to be the “Father of Probation.” The success of this first probation trial led to what is now considered a better alternative to jail for many offenders. As the trend moves toward “evidence-based” practices where law enforcement policies and procedures are based on empirical research results, the question has been raised as to what the best practice to reduce the recidivism rate might be, either more or less supervision for an individual on probation. The National Institute of Justice reported that nationally, recidivism is high: tracking 404,638 prisoners in 30 states after their release from prison in 2005, about two-thirds (67.8 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested. This paper will examine the effects of probation supervision on the recidivism rate for the state of Arizona. Through statistical data collected from five regions in the United States, a comparison will be made to the levels of probation supervision to the rate of repeat offenders. The regions were broken down into: West, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest. The research finding will have a significant impact on the planned revisions of Arizona laws as it relates to the best levels of supervision for individuals on probation.

Location

AC1-ATRIUM

Start Date

4-10-2015 1:00 PM

End Date

4-10-2015 3:30 PM

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Apr 10th, 1:00 PM Apr 10th, 3:30 PM

The Level of Supervision Over Individuals on Probation Affects the Rate of Recidivism

AC1-ATRIUM

Placing an individual on probation that was found guilty of a criminal violation has dated back as far as 1841. The Boston Police Court released an individual who was arrested for public intoxication to the custody of John Augustus, a Boston cobbler, who later was coined to be the “Father of Probation.” The success of this first probation trial led to what is now considered a better alternative to jail for many offenders. As the trend moves toward “evidence-based” practices where law enforcement policies and procedures are based on empirical research results, the question has been raised as to what the best practice to reduce the recidivism rate might be, either more or less supervision for an individual on probation. The National Institute of Justice reported that nationally, recidivism is high: tracking 404,638 prisoners in 30 states after their release from prison in 2005, about two-thirds (67.8 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested. This paper will examine the effects of probation supervision on the recidivism rate for the state of Arizona. Through statistical data collected from five regions in the United States, a comparison will be made to the levels of probation supervision to the rate of repeat offenders. The regions were broken down into: West, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest. The research finding will have a significant impact on the planned revisions of Arizona laws as it relates to the best levels of supervision for individuals on probation.