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The Effects of Sanction Intensity on Criminal Conduct - JDAI Helpdesk

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does not c<strong>on</strong>tribute to the development <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> good practice in <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fender and resource<br />

management. Furthermore, clinical decisi<strong>on</strong>-making is not immune to these problems<br />

either. Bridges and Steen (1998) showed that probati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ficers’ clinical judgments<br />

about the causes <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fending can be influenced by the client’s race, and may<br />

subsequently factor into case planning and sentencing recommendati<strong>on</strong>s.<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> Philadelphia APPD and the University <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Pennsylvania have developed a<br />

new risk predicti<strong>on</strong> model that is the focus <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the present study. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> following secti<strong>on</strong><br />

describes the model, its c<strong>on</strong>tributi<strong>on</strong> to the existing body <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> literature <strong>on</strong> risk assessment,<br />

and its use in a practical setting.<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> Philadelphia APPD Low Risk Model and Supervisi<strong>on</strong> Experiment<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> foundati<strong>on</strong> for the Philadelphia APPD low risk predicti<strong>on</strong> model and<br />

supervisi<strong>on</strong> experiment was laid in 2005, when APPD and the University <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> Pennsylvania<br />

began working together to restructure the agency’s probati<strong>on</strong> supervisi<strong>on</strong> practice<br />

according to predicted risk <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> serious crime. This approach represented a change from<br />

the existing standard supervisi<strong>on</strong> model for all <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders that was modified <strong>on</strong> an ad hoc<br />

basis largely according to <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ficer discreti<strong>on</strong>. In accordance with the risk principle,<br />

APPD’s eventual goal was to reallocate the highest risk <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders to more intensive<br />

supervisi<strong>on</strong>, with a small ratio <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> clients to <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>ficers so that more time could be put into<br />

assessing and addressing those clients’ needs. In order to do this without spending scarce<br />

resources <strong>on</strong> new staff, the lowest risk <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders in the agency needed to be assigned to<br />

large caseloads with minimal supervisi<strong>on</strong>. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> first step in this process was to create a<br />

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