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Refining the Risk Concept: Decision Context as a Factor Mediating the Relation Between Risk and Program Effectiveness

NCJ Number
162085
Journal
Crime & Delinquency Volume: 42 Issue: 3 Dated: (July 1996) Pages: 435-455
Author(s)
M Brown
Date Published
1996
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article uses data from a national random sample of New Zealand offenders to test the utility of the reoffending risk principle as a primary variable influencing program effectiveness.
Abstract
In meta-analyses of the rehabilitation literature, reoffending risk has been identified as a primary variable influencing program effectiveness. However, it is by no means clear to practitioners how this broad finding ought to be interpreted and what priority risk ought to be given among the range of considerations facing decisionmakers at different points in the criminal justice system. The decision context chosen for this evaluation is the allocation of prisoners to programs at the point of release from custody. Findings indicate that risk is closely associated with patterns of reoffending but other context-specific variables, such as the timing of release from custody, appear to interact with or mediate the effects of risk. The author discusses implications for practitioners wishing to use findings from the research literature. Table, figures, notes, references

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