Assessment and decision‐making: Probation officers’ construing of factors relevant to risk

Abstract

Purpose. The aim of this study was to use the Repertory Grid technique to explore the construct systems of probation officers, thereby determining what factors were being used in the assessment of offenders. Having elicited this information, it was then the intention to produce and administer a standardized grid to determine to what extent these criteria were being employed to differentiate between a selection of treatment options. Method. Sixteen practitioners were interviewed in the first phase of the research. Data were analysed using the INGRID grid analysis package and 14 constructs were identified. These constructs were used to compile a standardized grid which was subsequently administered to 33 practitioners in phase two of the research. Results. Results showed that while there was some degree of commonality in terms of the constructs elicited, recommendations were based almost exclusively on the severity and length of criminal record. Conclusions. As a result of this study, it can be concluded that probation officers need some support in assessing offenders and the service would therefore be wise to adopt a risk assessment instrument to assist in the decision‐making process.

Pathways Through the Juvenile Justice System

“…By contrast, the same stakeholders appear to treat subsequent referrals as more chronic behaviors by experienced offenders and, thus, pay stricter attention to legal factors. In fact, Giles and Mullineux (2000) discovered significant cumulative effects of previous criminal record on probation officers’ case decisions. The findings of this study, however, also suggest that previous stakeholders’ decisions significantly influenced how they processed the current referral.…”

Probation officers’ judgements: A study using personal construct theory

“…A researcher working within the Personal Construct theoretical framework is able to explore an individual's interpretation of a concept, in this study the likelihood of re-offending, and subsequently achieve a greater understanding of the respondent's unique view of the world and the issue under investigation (Giles & Mullineux, 2000). In order to apply the theory, Repertory Grid technique was employed.…”

Professional judgement about re-offending: Factorial survey

“…The objective was to identify the complexity of factors involved in that judgement and to measure the effect of selected factors on probation officers' judgements. There is an extensive literature on static and dynamic factors predictive of re-offending and for this study the case factors were drawn from both an in-depth literature review and a preliminary repertory grid study (Giles & Mullineux, 2010;Mullineux, Taylor, & Giles, 2018). The Repertory Grid (Kelly, 1955) was a structured qualitative study that provided a greater understanding of the concepts and daily terminology used by probation officers on this topic, as well as contributing to the selection of factors for study.…”