Justice involvement prediction as individuals age: An age-graded evaluation of the public safety assessment.

OBJECTIVE: Some scholars have criticized pretrial assessments for perpetuating racial bias in the criminal legal system by offering biased predictions of future legal system outcomes. Although these critiques have some empirical support, the scholarship has yet to examine the predictive validity and differential prediction of pretrial assessments across individuals by their age. Following the guidance of the life-course literature, the present study serves as the first age-graded evaluation of the Public Safety Assessment (PSA) focused on assessing whether the predictive validity and scoring predictions of the tool vary across the lifespan. HYPOTHESES: We expected that the predictive validity of the PSA scores would vary across the lifespan, such that the PSA underpredicts for younger individuals and overpredicts for older individuals. METHOD: The present study relied on pretrial information collected from 31,527 individuals during the Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research project. Logistic regression models were estimated to evaluate the differential prediction of the PSA for individuals ranging from 18 to 68 years of age. The results of bivariate models were used to produce area under the curve estimates at each year of age. RESULTS: The results of the present study provided some evidence that the PSA differentially predicted pretrial outcomes for individuals from 18 to 68 years of age. Specifically, the predictive validity of the New Criminal Arrest and the New Violent Criminal Arrest scales appears to improve as individuals become older, suggesting that these instruments are better able to predict pretrial outcomes for older individuals relative to younger individuals. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the PSA is a valid predictor of pretrial outcomes and that the predictive validity of some PSA scores is impacted by age. These findings suggest that the age of the defendant should be accounted for when interpreting the new criminal arrest and new violent criminal arrest scores. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Reforming solitary confinement: the development, implementation, and processes of a restrictive housing step down reentry program in Oregon.

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade there have been numerous and impassioned calls to reform the practice of solitary confinement in U.S. prisons. This article examines the development, implementation, and processes of a restrictive housing reentry program in the Oregon Department of Corrections. It draws on data from official documents, site observations, and interviews with 12 prison officials and 38 prisoners. The Step Up Program (SUP) seeks to improve the living conditions in restrictive housing over business-as-usual, alleviate physiological and psychological harms of solitary confinement, and use rehabilitative programming to increase success upon returning to the general prison population or community. RESULTS: The impetus to change the culture and structure of restrictive housing was primarily the result of internal administrative reform. Prisoners assigned at random to housing assignments offered accounts of their daily activities suggesting that the SUP provides more time out-of-cell and greater access to other services and activities. Program participants preferred the living conditions in the SUP because they had more opportunities for social interaction and incentives for compliant behavior. However, views on the value of programming among respondents were mixed. CONCLUSIONS: The launch of the SUP occurred in early 2020, which was soon followed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the program was never fully implemented as intended. As Oregon returns to more normal operations, it is possible that the SUP will be able to include even more out-of-cell time, greater socialization opportunities, and increased access to programming and other beneficial activities. As we await the opportunity to conduct prospective psychological and behavioral analyses, this study provides tentative support for the use of step down reentry programs in restrictive housing units. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Open Science Framework, Preparing adults in custody for successful reentry: An experimental study of a restrictive housing exit program in Oregon. Registered 4 October 2019, https://osf.io/t6qpx/.

Interpersonal Violence and Institutional Misconduct in the Los Angeles County Jail System: A Mixed Method Investigation.

This study involved a mixed method evaluation of interpersonal violence and institutional misconduct in the Los Angeles county jail system. Interviews with 52 correctional staff uncovered a widely shared belief that AB 109, Prop 47, and the Rosas decision had all contributed to an increase in violence and misconduct in the jail. Analysis of administrative records indicated there was a rise in the monthly rates of these adverse outcomes from 2010 to 2017. Intervention ARIMA models, however, revealed evidence of a statistically significant increase following only the passage of Prop 47. An examination of inmate characteristics across the 8-year observation period confirmed staff suspicions that jail incarcerates with more extensive criminal histories were being confined following the passage of these policies. If jails are to be responsible for confining higher risk inmates, provisions should also be made to increase the availability of evidence-based rehabilitative programming and other treatment services that can help combat the occurrence of these adverse outcomes.

Core Correctional Practices in Community Supervision: An Evaluation of a Policy Mandate to Increase Probation Officer Use of Skills.

Community supervision officer training programs aim to translate core correctional practices into routine practice. These training programs emphasize skill-building designed to shift supervision strategies from law enforcement/compliance-oriented to a focus on promoting and supporting behavior change. Despite evidence of their effectiveness, research finds trained officers use newly learned skills infrequently. The current study examined the impact of a policy, implemented post-training, designed to encourage trained officers to use skills emphasized by the Staff Training Aimed at Reducing Rearrest (STARR) training program more frequently. The current study examined the effectiveness of this policy on the frequency and type of skills used by officers in their interactions with individuals on their caseload. Analyses suggested the policy mandate was effective in increasing skill use, however officers still used trained skills in less than half of their interactions. Implications and considerations for increasing the use of skills are discussed.

Reducing Violence in Correctional Institutions: Revalidation of the Inmate Risk Assessment for Violent, Nonsexual Victimization.

Jail and prison administrators are responsible for ensuring institutional safety and order. Recent estimates indicate violence in correctional institutions is pervasive. One promising approach to reduce institutional violence is using a risk assessment to predict the likelihood of victimization. Once corrections officials identify high victimization risk offenders, these authorities can take steps to triage interventions to mitigate such risks. This strategy, however, requires a classification instrument that is available and predictively valid. In 2014, Labrecque, Smith, and Wooldredge created one such tool-the Inmate Risk Assessment for Violent, Nonsexual Victimization (RVNSV). This study reassesses the predictive validity of the RVNSV on a sample of adult inmates in the United States. The results indicate the RVNSV is a valid predictor of inmate victimization, among males and females.