A STUDY OF THE OUTCOMES OF PROBATION OFFICERS AND RISK-SCREENING INSTRUMENTS CLASSIFICATIONS

Risk-screening instruments have become quite popular in assisting prob ation officers in determining the level of supervision which their cli ents should receive while they serve their sentence in the community. This study compares the outcome of probation officers' classifications with predictions of likelihood of success derived from four risk-scre ening instruments. The results indicate that probation officers' predi ctions were better than two of the risk-screening instruments, were as accurate as another, and not as accurate as the fourth in determining the probability that the probationer would successfully complete the terms of probation. The findings of this study are discussed in terms of the cost issue involved in classifying offenders for probation supe rvision.