Centenial Celebration

Transaction Search Form: please type in any of the fields below.

Date: April 29, 2024 Mon

Time: 9:25 pm

Results for risk assessment (canada)

1 results found

Author: Stys, Yvonne

Title: Federal Offenders with a High Reintegration Potential (RP): Characteristics and Community Outcomes

Summary: Correctional systems are tasked with managing a diverse population of offenders from those who could be released from custody early in their sentence, without risk of re-offence; to those who may never be safely released. The challenge is to identify those suitable for early release through an effective assessment process. In addition to individual measures of risk, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC or the Service) calculates a reintegration potential (RP) score; this RP classification forms the basis of the offender's correctional plan and paves the way for a specific correctional path. Given the potential value of effective assessment for identifying lower risk offenders, it is important to know whether the expected differences in the flow of offenders through correctional systems can actually be demonstrated. To do so, this research examined the characteristics of 21,746 offenders admitted to the CSC between 2002 and 2006 and recorded the success of their releases into the community until January 2010. Of this group, a total of 8,824 offenders identified at admission as being lower risk (high RP) were followed through the system from admission to release (and for those who were not successful, back to custody) in order to investigate the characteristics of these offenders and to determine if they are following a correctional trajectory that is consistent with what would be expected for this group. A profile of offenders with a high RP was created through the examination of admission information, institutional experiences, and community outcomes. These results were then compared against those who were designated as offenders with medium or low RPs in order to identify the distinct attributes of the high RP cohort. Analyses were conducted separately for four groups of offenders (study groups); non-Aboriginal males (n=16,815), Aboriginal males (n=3,731), non-Aboriginal women (n=876) and Aboriginal women (n=324). At the time of admission, both high RP non-Aboriginal offender groups were found to be significantly older than their medium and low RP counterparts. Generally, males with a high RP tended to be admitted for shorter sentence lengths than the medium and low RP groups, although this relationship did not always hold true for the women's groups. Offenders with a high RP were also generally less likely to be admitted with a violent offence, and more likely to be admitted for a drug-related offence than offenders with medium or low RPs. Examination of institutional experience revealed that only non-Aboriginal women offenders with a high RP differed from their medium RP counterparts in institutional program participation - they were more likely to start and complete programs - and only non-Aboriginal male offenders with a high RP were less likely than their low RP counterparts to complete programs. Where there were significant differences in institutional employment, the high RP groups were always employed for significantly fewer days than the other RP levels, even when time served in the institution was taken into account. The high RP Aboriginal groups did not differ from the medium RP groups and the high RP Aboriginal women group did not differ from the low RP group in terms of involvement in institutional incidents, however in all other instances, the high RP groups were significantly less likely than the medium and low RP groups to be involved in institutional incidents as the instigator/associate. When considering release types, results indicated that offenders with a high RP were generally more likely than offenders with medium and low RPs to participate in escorted and unescorted temporary absences (ETAs and UTAs), with limited exceptions for women offenders. Overall, offenders with a high RP were significantly more likely than the other RP levels to be granted day or full parole as their first release from custody, again with limited exceptions for women offenders - for example there was no significant difference in this regard when comparing high and medium RP Aboriginal women. All four high RP offender groups served a significantly smaller percentage of their sentence prior to their first release than offenders in the medium and low RP groups. Finally, survival analyses conducted to determine differences in the risk of failure upon release for the three RP levels found that for all four interest groups, offenders with a high RP were significantly more likely to be successful on release, and less likely to experience a revocation or a new offence upon release. Specifically, being an offender with a medium RP rather than an offender with a low RP was found to increase the hazard of return to custody by between 1.52 (Aboriginal males) and 2.39 (non-Aboriginal males), and being an offender with a low RP rather than an offender with a high RP increased the hazard of return to custody by between 1.93 (Aboriginal males) and 3.37 (non-Aboriginal males). In conclusion, based on these outcomes, it would appear that the designation of high reintegration potential is associated with better access to correctional resources and earlier release from prison to serve the balance of the sentence in the community. Offenders with a high RP are generally following a correctional trajectory appropriate for that RP level and are performing as would be expected in the community. However, it should be noted that not all offenders who are identified as having a high RP are actually released early, nor do they all succeed after release. This demonstrates the variability of risk within the high RP group and suggests that reintegration potential may require some adjustments to the scoring which serves to define the levels for the three groups.

Details: Ottawa: Correctional Service of Canada, 2012. 122p.

Source: Internet Resource: Research Report No. R-260: Accessed May 15, 2014 at: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/lbrr/archives/cn21494-eng.pdf

Year: 2012

Country: Canada

URL: http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/lbrr/archives/cn21494-eng.pdf

Shelf Number: 132371

Keywords:
Early Release
Parole
Prisoner Reentry
Recidivism
Reintegration
Reoffending
Risk Assessment (Canada)