Juvenile Probation Officers’ Perceptions of Sanctions and Incentives as Compliance Strategies (original) (raw)
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Youthful compliance with juvenile court mandates is a cornerstone of effective probation practice. Despite this, research has not examined probation strategies for encouraging and enforcing youthful compliance with probation conditions. This study describes the use of confrontational tactics and client-centered approaches reported by probation officers in their supervision of delinquent youths. The study was conducted with data from a Web-based survey of probation (N = 308). Results indicate that officers balanced confrontational approaches with client-centered approaches. Officers employed confrontational tactics more frequently than client-centered strategies for youths with substance use problems, with younger youths, and with African American females. Alternatively, officers reported more client-centered approaches with females who had higher histories of prior service utilization and with youths who were perceived by officers to be honest. These findings open new avenues for research on the
Federal Probation, 2017
IN THE CRIMINAL justice system, approximately 80 percent of 4,650,900 adults (Kaeble & Bonczar, 2017) and 60 percent of 974,900 juveniles (Hockenberry & Puzzanchera, 2017) processed through the court system are placed on probation. Indeed, probation has been acknowledged as the most common form of community corrections for both adults and juveniles. The field of probation, and more specifically the adult or juvenile probation officers themselves, have grappled with numerous paradigm shifts and challenges, dealing with appropriate resource allocation, development of new treatment resources, offender supervision effectiveness, effects of caseload size and service quality, and potential risk and dangerousness management and the related community protection needs (Lutze, 2014).
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In the past several years, there has been a growing movement towards family-driven initiatives in many child-serving agencies, including the juvenile justice system. These initiatives underscore the importance of parental involvement in successful rehabilitation of at-risk and offending youth and highlight the unique role of parents to influence and inspire their child's behavior. Despite a growing consensus on the importance of parental involvement in juvenile justice processes, little empirical research has explored the nature of parental involvement in the juvenile justice system. This study examined parents' (n = 87) perceptions of relationship quality and interaction with probation officers, parenting strategies, and how these factors related to youth's compliance on probation. Findings revealed that parents generally had positive relationships with probation officers characterized as supportive, fair, respectful, and helpful towards youth. Most parents also employed practices such as use of reminders and encouragement to promote youth's compliance on probation. Parents' perceptions of probation officers' helpfulness toward youth were associated with decreased used of parenting practices that encourage probation compliance. However, parents' perceptions of supportive, respectful, and fair relationships with probation officers were associated with increased use of parenting practices that promote probation compliance. Supportive, fair, and respectful relationships with probation officers were also linked to fewer counts of technical violations of probation, but not new delinquent offenses, among offending youth. Implications for research, practice, and policy around the potential of collaborative relationships between parents and probation officers in facilitating successful probation outcomes are discussed.
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Formal philosophical and procedural aspects of American juvenile justice have been transformed over the past half-century by 'accountability' movements. Yet the meaning of accountability in juvenile justice -specifically who is to be held accountable and to whom -has varied over time making its present application unclear. In this article, we first describe two models of accountability ideals and how each developed. We discuss how traditional rehabilitative ideals were first displaced by 'system accountability' reforms emphasizing fairness and youths' rights, followed by 'juvenile accountability' reforms emphasizing punishment and victims' interests. We then explore how juvenile court judges, lawyers and probations officers in four states prioritize these accountability principles. While decision makers in our sample prioritize a system accountability perspective, especially as this relates to rehabilitative ideals, there is considerable diversity in orientation. Professional roles and racial identities of decision makers significantly shape their prioritization of various accountability goals.
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Journal of Criminal Justice, 2011
Purpose: The past decade has been witness to a proliferation of calls for evidence-based juvenile court sanctions-including various programs, interventions, services, and strategies or approaches-that reduce recidivism and improve mental health, drug dependency, and education outcomes. At the same time, an emerging body of work has identified "proven," "evidence-based," "best practice," or, more generally, "effective" efforts to achieve these outcomes. Even so, grounds for concern exist regarding the evidence-base for these and other sanctions.
Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
The majority of justice-involved youth have problems with substance use, but juvenile justice agencies face numerous barriers to providing evidence-based treatments for these youth. Taskshifting is one strategy for increasing access to such treatments. That is, training juvenile probation officers (JPOs) to deliver substance use treatments, such as contingency management (CM) could improve youths' motivation and behavioral outcomes. However, probation traditionally emphasizes sanctions over incentives, so JPOs must alter their perspectives to accept protocols such as CM for substance use. Using mixed focus group and survey methods at baseline and one year later, this randomized study examined heretofore unstudied JPO perceptions during a taskshifting experiment in which JPOs were asked to start delivering CM for youth substance use, compared to a control group of JPOs who did not change their practices. At baseline, JPOs expressed a perception of hopelessness about their work with substance-using youth and their parents, but they generally held positive views toward use of tangible incentives. One year after randomization to participate in CM training and delivery, JPO perceptions changed positively about working with youth and their parents, substance use programs and resources, and whether they believed tangible incentive programs were worthwhile. Over the same time, there was a perceptual stasis in hopelessness for JPOs randomized to deliver probation services as usual, and
The Impact of Formal and Informal Social Controls on the Criminal Activities of Probationers
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 2002
The monthly self-reported criminal activities, risk behaviors, and local life circumstances of offenders who began sentences of probation in northern Virginia were examined during the year prior to arrest, between arrest and probation, and during the first eight months of probation. The criminal activities and risk behaviors of the offenders declined dramatically after arrest and continued at this lower level throughout the probation period studied. When these offenders participated in highrisk behaviors such as carrying a gun, using drugs, and heavy use of alcohol, they committed more crimes; conversely, when they lived with spouses or were employed, they committed fewer crimes. There was no change in local life circumstances from the prearrest, arrest, and probation periods. The decline in criminal activities after arrest and during probation did not appear to be related to changes in informal social controls as measured by local life circumstances. The results were interpreted as consistent with a possible a deterrent effect. Approximately 58 percent of the 5.3 million adults under some type of correctional supervision during 1995 were serving terms of probation (Maguire and Pastore 1997). Seventy percent of the adults under correctional control are in their communities on state or federal probation or parole. Probationers account for a large proportion of the criminal activities in large, urban areas, and many of them are rearrested within three years of starting probation. Most research investigating the criminal activities of probationers has We wish to thank Claire Souryal, Julie Horney, and Scott Decker for their valuable input to this project. The probation and parole departments; District Chiefs Leslie Bubenhofer, Linda Eichenbaum, and Peter Stephenson; as well as the office staff provided a great deal of ongoing assistance for which we are very appreciative. And finally, we would like to thank all the probationers who participated in this study.