Keywords
risk assessment, gender, community corrections, new penology
Abstract
Risk has emerged as a defining feature of punishment in the United States. Feeley and Simon (1992) note that contemporary punishment is increasingly moving away from rehabilitation (the old penology) and moving toward the management and control of offenders (the new penology), often though actuarial techniques. While the profusion of risk assessment instruments, now entering their fourth generation, provides some support for the assertion that risk is indeed an important element in corrections, it was previously unknown if the risk model applied to all offenders, particularly female offenders. This dissertation addressed that gap by examining whether the risk model applied to female offenders in the community corrections setting. This dissertation surveyed 93 community corrections officers employed by the Orange County Community Corrections Department. The findings suggest that the department has incorporated many elements of the new penology into the classification and supervision of offenders in each of its units, though several gender differences were noted. Classification overrides, the perceived level of risk to the community, supervision decisions, and the perceived importance of risk and need factors were all examined in this study. The results indicate that some elements of classification and supervision function uniformly for offenders and operate irrespective of gender, but some areas, such as the perceived level of risk to the community and the perceived importance of risk factors, are influenced by gender.
Notes
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Graduation Date
2008
Advisor
Owens, J. Thomas
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
College
College of Health and Public Affairs
Degree Program
Public Affairs
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
CFE0002008
URL
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0002008
Language
English
Release Date
June 2008
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Access Status
Doctoral Dissertation (Open Access)
STARS Citation
Gould, Laurie, "Perceptions Of Risk And Need In The Classification And Supervision Of Offenders In The Community Corrections Setting: The Role O" (2008). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3781.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/3781