The Effects of Sanction Intensity on Criminal Conduct - JDAI Helpdesk

to the New York City and Oregon studies, large caseloads have always been portrayed as
detrimental to crime prevention (e.g.,Worrall et al., 2004; Lemert, 1993).
<strong>The</strong>ories <strong>of</strong> Probation
<strong>The</strong>re are several logical theoretical mechanisms by which a policy <strong>of</strong> lowintensity
supervision for low-risk probationers could in fact <strong>of</strong>fer a safe way to allocate
resources more efficiently. In order to understand how any probation practice might
work, one must first consider the fundamental purpose <strong>of</strong> probation. That discussion has
not featured prominently in the literature on community corrections. Probation today is
usually recognized solely as a sanction. Indeed, the popularity <strong>of</strong> intensive probation is
largely due to its place at the forefront <strong>of</strong> intermediate sanctions for punishing more
serious <strong>of</strong>fenders without sending them to prison. However, the roots <strong>of</strong> probation
supervision lie in rehabilitation rather than retribution. John Augustus, who is credited
with the invention <strong>of</strong> probation in 1841, intended it as a diversion from court allowing
defendants to prove their desire to reform prior to trial, underpinned by the threat <strong>of</strong>
criminal sanctions if they failed (Petersilia, 1997). He derived the term ‘probation’ from
the Latin probare, meaning to prove or demonstrate. Petersilia (ibid.) notes a shift in the
probation <strong>of</strong>ficer’s role, starting in the mid-twentieth century, from social worker to the
“eyes and ears <strong>of</strong> the local court” (p. 157). <strong>The</strong>re remains a tension between the social
work and surveillance/control philosophies. Thus, in considering the deterrent effect <strong>of</strong>
sanctions, one must consider probation not only as a punishment designed to deter future
crime, but as a ‘second chance’ to go straight and avoid harsher sanctions.
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