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The Effects of Sanction Intensity on Criminal Conduct - JDAI Helpdesk

The Effects of Sanction Intensity on Criminal Conduct - JDAI Helpdesk

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classified as low risk. <str<strong>on</strong>g>The</str<strong>on</strong>g> 0.5 threshold again performed reas<strong>on</strong>ably well. This cut-point<br />

gave the best balance <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> sensitivity and specificity for both measures, but specificity was<br />

lower than sensitivity (UCR: Sn = 63.0%, Sp = 52.1%; victim/damage: Sn = 63.7%, Sp =<br />

57.4%). Again, increasing the cut point to 0.55 improved specificity for both measures,<br />

at the expense <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a reas<strong>on</strong>able degree <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> sensitivity (UCR: Sn = 50.6%, Sp = 63.9%;<br />

victim/damage: Sn = 51.5%, Sp = 70.3%). At the 0.55 threshold the positive predictive<br />

values increase slightly and the proporti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> false positives is reduced. We see higher<br />

rates <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> false positives in these analyses compared to Table 3.5 because there is a higher<br />

prevalence <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fending in these categories.<br />

Does low-intensity probati<strong>on</strong> supervisi<strong>on</strong> alter the propensity for serious <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fending?<br />

This analysis focuses <strong>on</strong>ly <strong>on</strong> the experimental sample: 1,559 predicted low risk<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders who participated in the Low Risk Experiment and were randomly assigned to<br />

low-intensity supervisi<strong>on</strong> (LIS) or supervisi<strong>on</strong> as usual (SAU). Regardless <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> their lowrisk<br />

status, we would expect that those <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders who had been involved in serious<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fending prior to random assignment (RA) would be more likely to c<strong>on</strong>tinue to do so. 10<br />

However, because the ultimate practical purpose <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the predictive model is to identify<br />

low-risk <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders so that they can be diverted to LIS, it is very important to ensure that<br />

low-risk supervisi<strong>on</strong> itself does not increase the likelihood that <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fenders will engage in<br />

serious recidivism during or after supervisi<strong>on</strong>, over and above the extent to which we<br />

would expect given their past behavior. Table 3.8 shows the proporti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the sample<br />

that were charged with a serious <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g>fense post-RA. Because <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> the small number <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

160

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