Two main findings emerged from the research: (1) if risk assessment techniques are implemented under conditions of human and fiscal resource restraint, the techniques will be poorly implemented; and (2) risk assessments should be viewed as a supplement to traditional case work, not a replacement. The author argues that the shift to a risk assessment regime effectively deskilled the work of probation practitioners by substituting old casework skills with pre-formatted, standardized check-box assessment systems. The results also revealed that risk assessments were more accurate in the presence of a sustained and consistent relationship between the offender and the probation officer. In the cases under analysis, individual cases were handled by as many as five different officers. Moreover, probation officers failed to properly complete assessments, which resulted in a drift towards traditional criminal justice responses, such as incarceration. Most improperly completed assessments inflated the risk of probationers. The research involved two small pilot studies in a large metropolitan area that focused on the effectiveness of the new Offender Assessment System (OASys) currently in use in the English probation service. The analysis focused on whether the application of the OASys presupposed the casework skills the system was designed to replace and on whether deskilled practitioners working in fiscally tight times would inflate risk levels and mis-refer them to cognitive therapy programs. Three specific cases are analyzed involving: (1) an offender on probation for shoplifting and credit card offenses; (2) an offender on probation with a chronic addiction to heroin and crack cocaine; and (3) an offender on probation with severe depression and past suicide attempts. Notes, references