Evidence Based Corrections essay

Community supervision can be viewed as an integral part of community based corrections since the instituting of probation more than 100 years ago. Evidence based principles in community based corrections are focused on promoting special programs that can help offenders to change their behavior, beliefs and values. According to Leanne Alarid and Rolando Carmen (2014),“most offenders can be effectively held accountable for their crimes at the same time that they fulfill legitimate living standards in the community” (p.1). Today many community corrections serve as to address a wide range of problems associated with offender accountability, offender risk/need reduction and safety issues. The strategies used to meet these needs include evidence-based practices, which mean that they require effective interventions for which “there is consistent and solid scientific evidence” (Alarid & Carmen, 2014, p.1). According to researchers, more than a half million juveniles are under community supervision as a result of violent or delinquent behavior” (Borum, 2003, p.114), while the number of adult offenders under community supervision is larger. Researchers have found that treatment can reduce their risk of reoffending due to the application of effective interventions, focusing on criminogenic treatment targets and using the proper treatment strategies. To improve community based practices, it is necessary to conduct regular and developmentally informed risk an needs assessments using the proper assessment tools.

The major goal of this paper is to analyze evidence based principles in community based corrections in the supervision of offenders. Special attention should be paid to the discussion about the case plan, targeting criminogenic needs through programming, and use of validated risk/needs assessment tools. It is necessary to consider using the “Eight Guiding Principles for Risk/Recidivism Reduction.”

The case plan targeting criminogenic needs through programming

In order to formulate effective case plan for offenders, it is very important to improve case management practices, which should be focused on the court requirements and the proper strategies to meet these requirements, involvement of relevant staff and services, identification of the level of agreement to achieve the established goals and improve the process of assessment and progress monitoring (Taxman & Belenko, 2012).  Offenders require the individualized approach to providing community based practices because their risk levels are different. As a result, they may have different criminogenic needs. Special programs should be designed and implemented to addresses these needs (Borum, 2003; Singer et al, 2012).

The term “criminogenic needs” can be defined as “attributes of offenders that are directly linked to criminal behavior” (Singer et al, 2012, p. 23). Criminogenic needs should be addressed by effective correctional treatment, which should be included in the development of a comprehensive case plan. In other words, if a treatment is not targeting criminological needs, it is considered to be counterproductive and ineffective. The case plan should target criminogenic needs through programming (Alarid & Carmen, 2014).

The National Institute of Corrections (NIC) has developed the proper strategies through the study of community corrections field. In 2004, the basic principles in evidence based practices were outlined to be use of corrections (DeLisi & Conis, 2012). These eight guiding principles are considered to be effective in reducing offender risk and recidivism:

First, assessment of actual risk/needs using the proper assessment tools or instruments (Taxman & Belenko, 2012);

Second, enhancement of intrinsic motivation in order to improve the outcomes of the selected interventions (Taxman & Belenko, 2012);

 Third, providing target interventions which should be based on:

• Risk Principle: selecting the proper supervision and treatment resources in order to address the needs of high risk offenders;
• Need Principle: the selected interventions should targeted to criminogenic needs;
• Responsivity Principle: it is required to be “responsive to temperament, learning style, motivation culture and gender when assigning programs” (Taxman & Belenko, 2012, p. 47).
• Providing Dosage: it is necessary to “structure 40-70% of high risk offenders’ time for 3-9 months” (Taxman & Belenko, 2012, p. 47);
• Providing Treatment Practices: it is necessarily to be focused on the integration of treatment into the full sentence requirements of offenders.

Fourth, providing skill training with the directed practice through the application of the proper Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Methods;

Fifth, increasing positive reinforcement;

Sixth, engaging the ongoing support in natural communities;

Seventh, providing the appropriate measurement feedback(Taxman & Belenko, 2012).

For each of the above mentioned principles, specific procedures should be outlined and detailed practices should be described for effective implementation. According to researchers, these recommended principles for reducing offender risk and recidivism “recognize the difficulty and complexity of changing staff and agency culture and practice, and the multiple levels at which change may be needed” (Taxman & Belenko, 2012, p. 47). It is necessary to pay due attention to offender level, agency level and system level. According to researchers, high risk offenders would benefit from cognitive behavioral programs, which help to meet the criminogentic needs like antisocial behavior and antisocial beliefs, problems with self- regulation and self-control, antisocial peers and personality traits. In general, implementing high quality case management plan requires the proper quality control practices, such as the appropriate administration of assessment tools, effective case planning practices, cognitive and behavioral programming, improved individual communication, and the use of risk reduction techniques (Taxman & Belenko, 2012; Leukefeld et al., 2011).

The use of validated risk and needs assessment tools

It is necessary to use validated risks/needs assessment tools. Researchers believe that valid assessment of risk and needs helps to improve the efficiency of evidence based practices in community based corrections. It is crucial to provide the appropriate clinical information, which should be used in case planning (Alarid & Carmen, 2014; Leukefeld et al., 2011). Although many researchers state that recent studies show considerable gaps in many community-based programs and practices and the use of the assessment tools that have been not validated, there are many positive outcomes that affect the quality of community based practices. The most popular tools include:

• The Risk and Need Responsivity Model is effectively used for offender assessment and service planning. This tool is based on personality and social psychology theory. This tool pays due attention to the assessment of individual characteristics of offenders that predict antisocial behavior, which leads to criminal activity (Leukefeld et al., 2011)
• Level of Supervision Inventory-R is an effective assessment tool that is used for classification and management of offenders in the community setting and in correctional institutions. The major goal of this tool is to be focused on theory (the R-N-R principles) in order to address the needs of offenders. This tool is comprised of several scales that help to measure different risk and needs areas: education opportunities, employment opportunities, criminal history, personal characteristics and attitudes, family conditions, accommodation quality, alcohol/drug abuse problems,  (Leukefeld et al., 2011).
• Wisconsin Risk/Needs Assessment Tool is one of the effective risk assessment tools, developed to meet the needs and requirements of community based practitioners. This tool is based on the application of static risk factors, such as the age of an offender at his/her first conviction, the total number of supervision periods, the number of revocations, the number of changes in address information in the previous 12-24 months, etc. The information can be taken from the offenders’ investigation report (Leukefeld et al., 2011).

According to researchers, “given that the purpose of a risk assessment instrument is to differentiate offenders by low, medium and high risk, a good assessment instrument can correctly do this significantly better than chance” (Alarid & Carmen, 2014, p. 95). Well-developed case management systems help the staff members to provide effective supervision practices based on the proper risk and needs assessment tools.

Conclusion

            Thus, it is necessary to conclude that community supervision is an integral part of community based corrections. It has been found that offenders benefit from community supervision much more than from incarceration. There are eight guiding principles for reduction of offenders’ risk/recidivism, which include increasing positive reinforcement, effective skill training with directed practice, target interventions, enhancement of intrinsic motivation, risks and needs assessment, feedback measurement, measurement of relevant practices, and providing engaged support in community. When focusing on the assessment of risk and needs of offenders, the proper assessment tools should be selected to improve community based practices, including therapeutic treatment interventions.

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