The Effects of Sanction Intensity on Criminal Conduct - JDAI Helpdesk
The Effects of Sanction Intensity on Criminal Conduct - JDAI Helpdesk
The Effects of Sanction Intensity on Criminal Conduct - JDAI Helpdesk
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<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders and focus the most intensive supervisi<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> them, rather than treating them in<br />
the same way as low-risk <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders (Sherman, 2007). Berk et al. (2009) argue that both<br />
false positives (<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders incorrectly predicted to be low-risk) and false negatives<br />
(<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders incorrectly predicted to be high-risk) are detrimental to the effective operati<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the criminal justice system, as well as public safety. False negatives drive up pris<strong>on</strong><br />
populati<strong>on</strong>s, leading to overcrowding and financial pressures as well as the social<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sequences for <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders, their families and communities. False positives lead to tragic<br />
crimes (such as the fatal shootings <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> several Philadelphia police <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ficers in 2008 by<br />
paroled fel<strong>on</strong>s that lead to a moratorium <strong>on</strong> parole releases in Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania<br />
Fraternal Order <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Police, 2008) and undermine public and political c<strong>on</strong>fidence in the<br />
criminal justice system. Thus, reliable risk predicti<strong>on</strong> is vital for ensuring that as many<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders as possible are correctly classified and managed.<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>re is c<strong>on</strong>siderable evidence that statistical risk predicti<strong>on</strong> is superior to clinical<br />
methods in criminal justice (see Grove & Meehl, 1996 for a detailed review; also Van<br />
Voorhis & Brown, 1997; Lowenkamp, Holsinger, & Latessa, 2001). For example, <strong>on</strong>e<br />
study <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> violent recidivism am<strong>on</strong>g mentally ill <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders indicated predictive correlati<strong>on</strong><br />
coefficients <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> .09 for clinical predicti<strong>on</strong>s and .30 for statistical predicti<strong>on</strong>s. Similarly,<br />
for sex <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fender recidivism, the correlati<strong>on</strong> coefficient was .10 for clinical predicti<strong>on</strong>s and<br />
.46 for statistical instruments (reported in B<strong>on</strong>ta, 2002). Gottfreds<strong>on</strong> and Moriarty (2006)<br />
cite numerous studies supporting their c<strong>on</strong>tenti<strong>on</strong> that statistical predicti<strong>on</strong>s outperform<br />
clinical predicti<strong>on</strong>s in almost all situati<strong>on</strong>s involving human decisi<strong>on</strong>-making. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g>y<br />
argue that humans do not use informati<strong>on</strong> reliably: in particular, we are poor at<br />
c<strong>on</strong>sidering base rates, easily influenced by spurious causati<strong>on</strong>, and do not systematically<br />
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