The Criminal Justice Act also contains a spectrum of statutory sentencing criteria for both custodial and community sanctions, which often affect the content and structure of PSRs. This handbook is designed to assist probation officers and social workers in the preparation of their reports in accordance with the Act's requirements. This handbook first discusses the criteria for sentencing set forth in the Act. Separate sections outline the contents of a PSR, good practice in preparing PSRs, how to select proposals in a PSR, parental responsibility, racial and gender issues that might be related to the preparation of PSRs, and recommendations for quality assurance.