Exploring the Black Box of Community Supervision

Abstract

Community supervision has been an integral part of cor-rections since the establishment of probation more than 100 years ago. It has commonly been assumed that offenders benefit from community supervision much more than if they were incarcerated. However, empiri-cal evidence in support of the effectiveness of community supervision in reducing recidivism questions this assumption. A detailed examination of audio taped interviews between 62 probation officers and their clients found relatively poor adherence to some of the basic principles of effec-tive intervention–the principles of Risk, Need and Responsivity. For the most part, probation officers spent too much time on the enforcement aspect of supervision (i.e., complying with the conditions of probation) and not enough time on the service delivery role of supervision. Major criminogenic needs such as antisocial attitudes and social supports for crime were largely ignored and probation officers evidenced few of the skills (e.g., prosocial modeling, differential reinforcement) that could influence behavioral change in their clients. As a snapshot of present practices, this study begins a path to a systematic and structured training agenda to help probation officers become more effective agents of change.

Full text

Exploring the Black Box of
Community Supervision
JAMES BONTA
TANYA RUGGE
TERRI-LYNNE SCOTT
GUY BOURGON
ANNIE K. YESSINE
ABSTRACT Community supervision has been an integral part of cor-
rections since the establishment of probation more than 100 years ago.
It has commonly been assumed that offenders benefit from community
supervision much more than if they were incarcerated. However, empiri-
cal evidence in support of the effectiveness of community supervision in
reducing recidivism questions this assumption. A detailed examination of
audio taped interviews between 62 probation officers and their clients
found relatively poor adherence to some of the basic principles of effec-
tive intervention–the principles of Risk, Need and Responsivity. For the
most part, probation officers spent too much time on the enforcement
aspect of supervision (i.e., complying with the conditions of probation)
and not enough time on the service delivery role of supervision. Major
criminogenic needs such as antisocial attitudes and social supports for
crime were largely ignored and probation officers evidenced few of the
skills (e.g., prosocial modeling, differential reinforcement) that could
influence behavioral change in their clients. As a snapshot of present
practices, this study begins a path to a systematic and structured training
agenda to help probation officers become more effective agents of
change.
This article is not subject to U.S. copyright law.
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, Vol. 47(3), 2008. Pp. 248–270.
Available online at http://jor.haworthpress.com
doi: 10.1080/10509670802134085

KEYWORDS Community supervision, offender rehabilitation,
probation
PROBATION IN THE U.S. AND CANADA
Probation was introduced to the United States (Boston) by John
Augustus in 1841 and in 1876, Elmira Reformatory in New York
State was the first prison to release inmates on parole. More than a
century later probation and parole represent the major forms of
supervising offenders in the community. In 2004 in the United States
there were nearly five million people either on probation or parole
supervision (Glaze & Palla, 2005). During the same time period, in
Canada, there were 98,805 adult offenders on probation and another
21,695 on some other forms of community supervision (e.g., parole,
conditional sentences; Beattie, 2006). Despite the widespread use of
community supervision, what do we really know about the effective-
ness of community supervision in managing offender recidivism?
The Effectiveness of Community Supervision Pre-1967
Community sentences (i.e., probation) are generally viewed as an
alternative to imprisonment suitable for many offenders. It provides
a safe and inexpensive way of delivering punishments that fit less
serious crimes while avoiding the detrimental effects of incarceration.
Parole is not a sentence handed down by a court like probation but
rather a community sanction administered by tribunal paroling autho-
rities and parole supervision is seen as a sensible way of integrating
offenders into their communities and reducing offender recidivism.
Both probation and parole promise to control offender recidivism
and this promise came under scrutiny with Lipton, Martinson and
Wilks’ (1975) review of correctional treatment programs.
In the Lipton et al. (1975) review, the criteria for inclusion of a study
required that the study was conducted between 1945 and 1967, repre-
sented a ‘‘treatment method applied to criminal offenders’’ (p. 4) and
reported measures of performance improvement for an experimental
and a control=comparison group. Lipton et al.’s (1975) definition of
‘‘treatment’’ was extremely broad. They selected studies that are com-
monly considered to reflect offender rehabilitation programs (e.g.,
Bonta et al. 249

individual psychotherapy, drug and alcohol counselling) but they also
included studies on the effects of criminal justice settings, namely,
imprisonment, probation and parole. Their review of the ‘‘treatment
effect’’ of probation and parole with respect to recidivism found
differential effects. Probation (18 studies) appeared more effective
with younger offenders (under the age of 18) especially under con-
ditions of small case loads (less than 15 cases per officer). Adult men
on parole demonstrated lower return rates to prison while under parole
supervision, compared to men directly released from prison without
supervision, but there were no differences in recidivism following the
period of parole supervision (19 studies).
Subsequent to the 1975 review, Martinson and Wilks (1978) pro-
vided a more detailed assessment of the parole effectiveness literature.
They compared the recidivism rates of parolees with inmates released
from prisons without supervision. Across various measures of recidi-
vism, parolees showed lower rates of recidivism. The highest differ-
ence was when recidivism was measured as a new arrest with
parolees having a re-arrest rate of 24.5%and straight releases having
a re-arrest rate of 42.9%. The differences decreased with conviction
as the outcome measure (19.5%vs. 29.9%) and further still when a
new prison sentence was the outcome criterion (10.6%vs. 14.8%).
Moreover, in 74 of the 80 comparisons that were conducted (e.g.,
long follow-up or short follow-up, first offenders or repeat
offenders), lower recidivism rates were found for parolees. Despite
Martinson and Wilks’ (1978) conclusion that ‘‘at the very least, the
data...should give pause to those policy makers and legislators
who have been operating under the assumption that parole super-
vision makes no difference’’ (p. 426, italics original) we know that,
at least in the United States, few listened and parole boards were
either abolished or their authority greatly weakened.
Community Supervision Post Martinson and Wilks (1978)
Presently, we are conducting a meta-analytic review of the effec-
tiveness of community supervision. Two general questions are asked.
First, does parole make a difference in recidivism and second, is more
community supervision, whether it be probation or parole, better
than less supervision. Studies were selected if they met the following
criteria:
250 JOURNAL OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION

1. parolees were compared with non-parolees;
2. probation supervision could be compared along a less-more
dimension (e.g., short periods of probation with long periods;
intensive probation with routine supervision);
3. recidivism outcome was reported in a manner that permitted
the calculation of an effect size and;
4. the study was published after Martinson and Wilks (1978).
At this point, 15 studies published between 1980 and 2006 have
been reviewed and coded yielding 26 effect size estimates. We selected
the phi coefficient as our measure of effect size. The phi coefficient is
used to measure the association between two dichotomous variables
and can be interpreted like the Pearson product-moment coefficient.
Table 1 summarizes the results.
The average follow-up in the studies summarized in Table 1 was 17
months. The average phi coefficient was .022 and although the
Confidence Interval (CI) did not include zero the decrease in recidi-
vism associated with community supervision was extremely small.
The findings with violent recidivism fared worse with the CI including
zero indicating no statistically significant relationship between com-
munity supervision and violent recidivism. On the whole, community
supervision does not appear to work very well. Why this may be so is
discussed in the next section and will also be answered, in part, by the
study described in this paper.
What do We Know about Reducing Offender Recidivism?
One of the most effective ways of decreasing criminal behavior
is to intervene at the human service level. Furthermore, this
&Table 1: Meta-analytic Findings on the Effectiveness of
Community Supervision
Recidivism Outcome k Total N Phi CI
General 26 53,930 .022 .014–.030
Violent 8 28,523 .004 .008–.016
Notes: k ¼number of effect size estimates; Total N is the sum of experimental and control subjects.
CI ¼confidence interval.
Bonta et al. 251

intervention is most effective when the service is delivered in the
community (Andrews & Bonta, 2006). Reviews of the offender
rehabilitation literature have found that providing services to
offenders are associated, on average, with a reduction of ten percent-
age points in recidivism (Andrews & Bonta, 2006; Lipsey, 1995;
Lo
¨sel, 1995). Not only is there consensus on the finding that treat-
ment can reduce recidivism but we also know under what conditions
treatment effectiveness can be enhanced.
The effectiveness of treatment can be maximized through adher-
ence to the principles of Risk, Need and Responsivity (Andrews,
Bonta & Hoge, 1990). The Risk Principle states that the level of
service should be matched to the risk level of the offender with higher
risk offenders receiving more treatment. The Need Principle states
that the targets for intervention should be factors related
to offending (often referred to as criminogenic needs) and the
Responsivity Principle states that interventions should be delivered
in a manner that is appropriate to the learning styles of offenders.
In general, cognitive-behavioral treatments have been most effective
in bringing about change in offenders. When all three principles are
in operation, particularly in community settings, reductions in recidi-
vism of up to 50%have been reported (Andrews & Bonta, 2006).
One of the cornerstones of community supervision is case manage-
ment. Case management requires a proper assessment of the needs
of offenders, linking these needs to a service delivery plan and
implementing the plan (Healey, 1999). If one considers the find-
ings from the offender rehabilitation literature then case management
should have the following features:
1. an assessment of offender risk in order to match the appro-
priate level of supervision to the offender’s risk;
2. an assessment of criminogenic needs to define the goals of
intervention; and
3. the provision of cognitive-behavioral interventions that target
criminogenic needs.
Unfortunately, there is very little research that examines case man-
agement within the context of the offender rehabilitation literature
even though the importance of juxtaposing case management with
the ‘‘what works’’ literature has been recognized (Taxman, Shapardson
& Bello, 2003). Do probation and parole officers use offender risk
252 JOURNAL OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION

assessments in assigning intensity of intervention and identifying
criminogenic needs that should be addressed? Do probation and
parole officers use cognitive-behavioral techniques during their
supervision sessions? Answers to these questions are lacking and
yet answers are sorely needed to improve supervision practices.
Answers to these questions may explain the very modest findings
of our preliminary meta-analysis (Table 1). The following study
describes and evaluates the process of service delivery within a
probation context. More specifically, the research examined how
assessment instruments were routinely used in a Canadian pro-
bation setting, the appropriateness of the treatment targets sele-
cted for intervention and the methods of influencing offenders to
change.
METHOD
Participants
Probation officers supervising both adult and young offenders
participated in the project. At the time of the study (2001), approxi-
mately 6,400 adults and 2,000 youth were under a sentence of pro-
bation in the Canadian province of Manitoba. There were 108
probation officers with supervising responsibilities and 62 (57.4 %
of supervising officers) agreed to participate in the project. Probation
officers were asked to submit four cases sequentially chosen as they
came onto their caseloads. Despite a number of efforts to minimize
workload demands on probation officers, participation in the pro-
ject was below our expectations. Data was submitted on only 154
offenders.
Data collection ended April 30, 2002 and recidivism infor-
mation was gathered in 2004. Our measure of recidivism was
a new conviction during the follow-up period that began on
the date of the intake assessment. The average follow-up was
3.3 years (SD ¼0.21). The information was collected from the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s Criminal History Records, a
national database, and Manitoba Justice’s Offender Management
System.
Bonta et al. 253

Assessment Procedures
In general, data was collected from the following three information
sources:
1. The intake risk-needs assessments;
2. The audio taping of officer-probationer interviews at three time
periods; and
3. Offender files.
A more detailed description of the information collected for the
project follows.
1. Intake Risk-Needs Assessment. The Primary Risk Assessment
(PRA) instrument is the offender classification instrument used
in Manitoba community corrections for profiling the risk and
needs of probationers. For adults, the PRA is a modification
of the Wisconsin Risk and Needs instrument and the instru-
ment has been validated on probationers in Manitoba (Bonta,
Parkinson, Pang, Barkwell, & Wallace-Capretta, 1994). For
youth (ages 13 to 17 years), the PRA is a modification of the
Youth Level of Service=Case Management Inventory (Hoge
& Andrews, 2002).
Policy requires an Intervention Plan to be completed within
two months of conducting a PRA. The Intervention Plan out-
lines how the probation officer plans to address the problem
areas identified by the PRA.
2. Audiotape Interviews. Audiotape recordings of the officer-
offender meetings were conducted on three separate occasions.
The first audio taped interview was administered within the
second or third week following the Intervention Plan. The
second taping occurred three months later and the final taping
at the six month mark. Upon completion of an interview, the
audiotape was forwarded directly to the researchers for coding.
Each five-minute segment of the intake audiotape was coded as
to discussions around potential criminogenic needs. For an
item to be scored as present, at least two examples of state-
ments regarding criminogenic needs had to be apparent.
A detailed coding manual for the audiotapes was developed.
The coding procedures in this study followed similar procedures
254 JOURNAL OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION

to those used in the probation studies of Andrews and Kiessling
(1980; Ontario) and Trotter (1996, 1999; Australia). The same
coding procedures were used for both adult and youth. Two
research assistants were trained in using the manual and per-
iodic inter-rater reliability checks were conducted.
Audiotapes were reviewed in five-minute segments and coded
according to three general domains. The first domain was
offender needs as defined by the PRA. The presence or absence
of statements concerning the needs identified by the PRA was
noted. The remaining two domains assessed were the quality
of the relationship between probationer and officer and the
probation officer’s use of behavioral techniques to influence
change.
The latter two domains (relationship and behavioral techni-
ques) are often viewed as the core dimensions in behavioral
influence processes (Andrews & Bonta, 2006; Dowden &
Andrews, 2004). A positive interpersonal relationship as evi-
denced by warmth, openness, enthusiasm, empathy and respect
for the client are needed to engage and motivate the client in
taking steps to change. Modeling appropriate behavior, provid-
ing opportunities for behavioral practice, reinforcing prosocial
activity and discouraging antisocial behaviors provide the
concrete direction for change.
3. File Review. A file review provided additional information not
captured by the questionnaires and audiotapes. This infor-
mation was also used to collaborate the results from the other
sources of information. Personal demographic and criminal
history information were coded as well as information relevant
to the supervision of the probationers (e.g., frequency of con-
tact with the probationer, breaches).
Non-participant Comparison Groups
Not all probation officers participated in the research. This raised
the possibility that differential participation would affect the general-
izability of the results. Thus, it was important to assess whether there
were significant differences between the officers and the probationers
who participated in the study and those who did not participate. A
sample of non-participating probation officers was selected and
Bonta et al. 255

demographic information (e.g., ethnicity, years of experience) was
collected. For each non-participating probation officer, a random
sample of two cases was drawn from his=her files. These files were
coded following the same file coding procedures that were used with
the participating probationers.
RESULTS
Sixty-two probation officers participated in the study submitting
data on as many as 154 offenders. The information submitted, how-
ever, varied for a number of reasons. For example, offenders changed
their minds about participation part way through the project, failed
to report, or were transferred to another probation officer. In order
to assess the representativeness of the sample of participating proba-
tioners, a file review of 77 randomly selected cases from 42 non-
participating probation officers was conducted (seven cases had to
be rejected because they were not currently being supervised). No
statistically reliable differences were found between the participating
and non-participating probation officers in age, years as a probation
officer, ethnicity and education level.
Personal-demographic information on the participating and non-
participating offender samples is presented in Table 2. The majority
of the participants were adult offenders and the average age of all
participants was 27.7 years (33.1 years for adults and 15.9 years
for youth). No statistically significant differences were found
between the participating probationers and the non-participating
probationers on personal-demographic, criminal histories and
assessed risk variables.
Case Management and the Risk Principle
The Risk Principle of effective rehabilitation states that the inten-
sity of intervention should be matched to the risk level of the
offender, that is, minimal services for low risk offenders and intensive
services for high risk offenders. One of the purposes of risk=need
assessments in probation is to guide the amount of supervision
that is assigned to a probationer. Thus, we would expect that the
256 JOURNAL OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION

frequency of reporting would be proportional to the risk level of the
offender.
From the file reviews of the participants and non-participants, we
were able to count the number of contacts between the probation
officers and the probationers during the first three months of super-
vision. On average, during the first three months of probation, clients
were seen on 4.3 occasions. Approximately half of the probationers
were seen three or four times (47.2%). The number of contacts was
positively related to the risk score as measured by the PRA for adults
&Table 2: Characteristics of the Probationers (n)
Characteristic Participants Non-Participants
Gender (%):
Male 75.0 (84) 83.1 (64)
Female 25.0 (28) 16.9 (13)
Education (%):
less than grade 9 21.0 (22) 28.0 (21)
Grade 9 or higher 79.0 (83) 72.0 (54)
Employed=Student (%):
Yes 71.6 (78) 69.7 (53)
No 28.4 (31) 30.3 (23)
Marital Status (%):
Single 68.2 (75) 68.9 (51)
Married=Common-Law 31.8 (35) 31.1 (23)
Prior Incarceration (%):
Yes 37.6 (35) 51.4 (37)
No 62.4 (58) 48.6 (35)
Prior Probation (%):
Yes 55.8 (53) 66.7 (46)
No 44.2 (42) 33.3 (23)
Number of Prior Crimes 5.8 (87) 6.2 (71)
Mean PRA Score (Adults) 8.3 (SD ¼3.5) 8.7 (SD ¼4.2)
Mean PRA Score (Youth) 23.1 (SD ¼11.8) 27.3 (SD ¼8.5)
Note: Numbers vary due to missing data (Participants from 93–112; Non-participants from 69–77).
SD ¼Standard deviation.
All comparisons statistically nonsignificant.
Bonta et al. 257

(r ¼.22, p <.01, n ¼133) but not for youth (r ¼.09, ns, n ¼47).
However, the significant correlation for adults was accounted for
by the fact that high-risk offenders in particular were seen more often
than low and medium risk offenders (F ¼7.43, df ¼2, 130,
p<.001). There were no statistically significant differences between
the number of contacts for low risk offenders (seen an average of
4.3 times; SD ¼2.2) versus medium risk offenders (seen an average
of 3.7 times; SD ¼1.5). High-risk offenders were seen an average
of 5.7 times over the first three months of supervision (SD ¼3.6).
Finally, the number of contacts was unrelated to caseloads
(r ¼.01, ns).
Formulating a Case Management Plan
The Need Principle makes a distinction between two types of
offender needs: criminogenic and noncriminogenic needs. Almost
all correctional systems in Canada use structured risk-needs assess-
ment to assist staff in identifying the criminogenic needs of offenders
that should be addressed in order to manage their risk of re-offending.
In Manitoba, the PRA is used for this purpose. Upon completion
of the PRA, the probation officer is in a position to integrate this
&Table 3: Percentage Participating and Non-Participating Probationers
with Needs Identified by the PRA
Need Adult (n ¼147) Youth (n ¼66)
Accommodation 25.2 (37) 59.1 (39)
Employment 40.8 (60) NA
Substance Abuse 36.7 (54) 62.1 (41)
Attitude 55.8 (82) NA
Family=Marital 52.4 (77) 95.5 (63)
Financial 28.6 (42) NA
Emotional 22.4 (33) 57.6 (38)
Peer Problems 47.4 (70) 89.4 (59)
Academic=Vocational 7.5 (11) 84.8 (56)
Note: NA ¼Not assessed by the Youth PRA.
258 JOURNAL OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION

information into his=her supervision of offenders by completing an
Intervention Plan. A summary of needs identified by the PRA is pre-
sented in Table 3 (for youth, the PRA does not measure the same
needs as for adults).
The Intervention Plan is a one-page form that records the crim-
inogenic needs of the offender (‘‘problems=issues’’) and outlines the
actions or steps to address each of the offender’s problem areas.
Intervention Plans and matching risk-needs assessments were avail-
able for up to 105 participating probationers. For many of the vari-
ables, some information was missing.
A total of 175 instances of needs were identified for the proba-
tioners and there were 69 plans. That is, 39.4%of the needs identified
had a corresponding intervention plan. For young offenders, it was
more difficult to categorize action plans due to their uniqueness
(e.g., ‘‘assist in leaving gang’’, ‘‘maintain contact with mom’’) but
efforts were made to group them into broader categories. The results
are shown in Table 4.
In order to facilitate reading Table 4, we take substance abuse as
an example. Substance abuse problems were identified by the PRA
for 40.2%of adult probationers and an action plan to address this
area was evident in 79.5%of the cases. In contrast to the relatively
high agreement between certain identified needs (e.g., substance
abuse and emotional problems) and a corresponding action plan,
&Table 4: Intervention Plans for PRA Identified Needs: Adults and
Youth
Criminogenic Need (N) %with Need %Any Plan
Substance Abuse: Adults (97) 40.2 79.5
Youth (31) 45.2 64.3
Employment: Adults (97) 41.2 10.0
Emotional: Adults (91) 23.1 71.4
Family=Marital: Adults (97) 52.6 29.4
Youth (30) 40.0 83.3
Accommodation: Adults (101) 23.8 16.6
Youth (33) 12.1 50.0
Note: Data based upon participating and non-participating probationers.
Bonta et al. 259

other needs were not being addressed in the Intervention Plan. For
example, over 40%of the adult offenders had identified difficulties
with employment yet only 10%of these cases described an action
plan to deal with these difficulties. Attitudes and companions were
only mentioned in a few cases and therefore, not shown in the table.
Addressing Criminogenic Needs During Supervision
After the administration of the Primary Risk Assessment and for-
mulation of the Intervention Plan, participating probation officers
tape-recorded their first ‘‘supervision’’ meeting with the offender.
Inter-rater reliability was conducted with two research assistants
who coded 108 variables from 25 audiotapes independently of each
other. The median kappa was .94 and ranged from .48 to 1.0.
The intake interviews ranged from five minutes and 50 seconds to
47 minutes and 40 seconds in length. The average first supervision
interview lasted 22 minutes and 34 seconds. Although the interviews
were not lengthy, one must be reminded that probation officers are
involved in other activities related to the client (e.g., meeting family
members, calling employers, etc.).
&Table 5: Discussions of Needs Identified in the Primary Risk
Assessment at First Supervision Session
Need Adult (n ¼72) Youth (n ¼31)
#Identified Discussed (%)#Identified Discussed (%)
Accommodation 21 12 (57.1) 15 11 (73.3)
Employment 28 16 (57.1) NA NA
Substance Abuse 32 25 (78.1) 29 19 (65.5)
Attitude 34 3 (8.8) NA NA
Family=Marital 40 36 (90.0) 30 23 (76.7)
Financial 26 9 (34.6) NA NA
Emotional 17 11 (64.7) 14 2 (14.3)
Peer Problems 38 8 (21.1) 30 13 (43.3)
Academic=Vocational 7 0.0 (0.0) 31 22 (71.0)
Note: NA ¼Not applicable (not assessed in Youth PRA).
260 JOURNAL OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION

Table 5 summarizes the findings for the first audio taped inter-
views with a focus on the criminogenic needs identified by the PRA.
That is, the results shown in Table 5 are based on offenders having
a need identified by the PRA and discussions around it. For youth,
a need was identified if the subcomponent score was greater than
or equal to one. Choosing a subcomponent score of 1 or more is a
low threshold for defining a criminogenic need. For example, scoring
positively on only one of nine items on the Substance Abuse subcom-
ponent would define a criminogenic need. However, this liberal
assessment of a criminogenic need maximized the number of cases
for our small group of young offenders.
Once again, to facilitate reading Table 5, accommodation is used
as an illustration. Twenty-one adult offenders (out of 72 possible
cases) had accommodation identified as problematic by the PRA.
In 12 or 57.1 percent of these cases the probation officer and pro-
bationer discussed the difficulties surrounding inadequate living con-
ditions. Likewise, 15 (of 31) young offenders had accommodation
problems as measured by the youth PRA. Eleven cases (73.3%) evi-
denced audio taped discussions around this topic. For both adults
and young offenders, family=marital issues were the most frequently
discussed criminogenic need. This was followed by substance abuse
for adults (78.1%) and accommodation for youth (73.3%).
Some criminogenic need areas received relatively little attention.
For example, employment difficulties, a problem area for 28 of 72
(38.9%) of adult probationers, were discussed in 57.1%of cases.
Two of the major risk factors in criminal behavior, antisocial
attitudes and criminal peers, were evident for approximately half of
adult probationers. However, these need areas were infrequently
discussed (8.8%and 21.1%respectively). Similarly for youth, almost
all (30 of 31) had peer problems but discussions around negative peer
influence accounted for less than half of the cases (43.3%).
Influencing Offenders in Interpersonal Relationships
The most direct ways of influencing the behavior of individuals is
to reward desirable behavior and punish or ignore undesirable beha-
vior. However, the impact of interpersonal rewards and punishment
is moderated by the relationship between the person who is trying
Bonta et al. 261

to effect change and the individual whose behavior is a target for
change. Within the case management context, it is important for
the probation officer to establish a positive, warm and respectful
relationship with the client in order for the probationer to be willing
to listen to what the probation officer has to say and to follow his
or her advice. The audiotapes were coded for seven indicators of posi-
tive interpersonal skills. The seven indicators were: 1) empathy, 2)
openness, 3) warmth, 4) firmness, 5) prompting and encouragement,
6) enthusiasm, and 7) humor.
The assessment of relationship factors from the audiotapes is
presented in Table 6. The most common indicator of a positive
relationship was evident in the high frequency of prompting and
encouraging behavior from the probation officer. Expressions of
openness and warmth, occurring in approximately half of the inter-
views, were the next most frequent behaviors that were observed. It
appeared that these behaviors were part of an individual’s interperso-
nal style and that they changed little with time. All other indicators of
relationship skills occurred less frequently and some changed with
time. Empathic statements (e.g., paraphrasing, reflection of feelings,
etc.) decreased over the six-month period as did firm but fair state-
ments (i.e., setting appropriate limits for the probationer). On the
other hand, enthusiasm and humor increased over time. None of
these factors were related to recidivism.
&Table 6: Relationship Factors over Time (Audiotape) (%)
Relationship Factor Audiotape
1st 2nd 3rd
Empathy 48.5 35.2 22.2
Openness 54.4 66.7 59.3
Warmth 45.6 40.7 48.1
Firmness 45.6 53.7 24.1
Enthusiastic 27.2 27.8 44.4
Prompting and encouragement 97.1 94.4 96.3
Humour 30.1 27.8 42.6
Note: For the first audiotape, n ¼103. For the second and third audiotape, n ¼54.
262 JOURNAL OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION

Also noteworthy was the lack of evidence of behaviors that could
‘‘turn off’’ the probationer. Coders were attentive to indicators
of unfriendly, hostile behavior from the probation officer (e.g.,
‘‘Don’t interrupt me, can’t you see I’m talking’’) or evidence of bore-
dom (e.g., ‘‘I don’t find this very interesting’’). From our review of
211 audiotapes over the three time frames, only seven instances of
such behavior were noted.
Behavioral interventions are one of the major characteristics
of effective treatment with offenders. Behavioral interventions
include the modeling of desired behavior, opportunities to practice
the behavior, providing appropriate feedback (i.e., the systematic
reinforcement of prosocial behaviors and discouragement of anti-
social behaviors), teaching relapse prevention and the assignment
of behavioral homework. The degree to which probation officers
engaged in these practices was assessed from the audiotapes.
In Table 7 the prevalence of the major indicators of behavioral
intervention is presented. Prosocial reinforcement by the probation
officers was the most frequently used method of influencing change
in their clients. That is, when an offender reported engaging in a pro-
social activity (e.g., spent the day searching for work), the officer
recognized this as desirable and expressed approval. Interestingly,
probation officers were not very responsive to antisocial expressions
from their clients (antisocial discouragement was noted in 18.5%to
25.9%of the audiotapes). When the probationer reported an
&Table 7: Directive Factors over Time (Audiotape) (%)
Factor Audiotape
1st 2nd 3rd
Prosocial Modeling 16.5 14.8 14.8
Practice 22.3 24.1 24.1
Prosocial Reinforcement 68.0 55.6 72.2
Antisocial Discouragement 20.4 25.9 18.5
Relapse Prevention 16.5 25.9 29.6
Homework Assignment 28.2 27.8 24.1
Note: For the first audiotape, n ¼103. For the second and third audiotape, n ¼54.
Bonta et al. 263

antisocial activity or expressed an antisocial attitude, the probation
officer did not note this nor challenge the behavior or attitude.
Other aspects of behavioral intervention (i.e., prosocial modeling,
practice, relapse prevention and the assignment of tasks or ‘‘home-
work’’) occurred in a minority of the audiotapes. Once again, this
behavior did not change over time–if probation officers were not
using behavioral techniques to bring about change near the beginning
of supervision then they were not doing it six months later. Only
discussions around relapse prevention showed an increase but only
from the first to the third and six-month audiotapes.
As with our analysis of the relationship factors, probation officers
were found not to engage in behaviors that were counterproductive
to prosocial change in the offender. Only six instances of the pro-
bation officer modeling antisocial behavior (e.g., rationalizes crime)
and three examples of reinforcing antisocial behavior were found
among the audiotapes. Again, the specific directive factors did not
predict recidivism.
As already alluded to, some of the analyses with respect to recidi-
vism found no significant results. However, there were a few impor-
tant exceptions. First, the amount of time devoted to dealing with a
criminogenic need predicted recidivism (Table 8). The more time
spent dealing with a criminogenic need, the lower the recidivism.
Although the results shown in Table 8 appear impressive, we also
found that only one-third of probation officers spent a significant
amount of time focused on a few criminogenic needs in their super-
vision sessions. In fact, 67%of the probation officers dealt with an
average 5.2 different criminogenic needs during a supervision session.
Considering that the average session was 22 minutes, to spend a few
minutes covering a range of criminogenic needs was not productive.
&Table 8: Time Devoted to Discussions of a Criminogenic
Need and Recidivism
Time Spent discussing Criminogenic Need Percent Recidivated
0 to 19 minutes 49
20 to 39 minutes 36
More than 40 minutes 3
264 JOURNAL OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION

We found that the more topics covered during a session, the higher
the recidivism rate (r ¼.19, p <.05).
The other additional finding of note was that the more time that
the probation officer spent discussing the conditions of probation,
the higher the recidivism rate. In sessions where less than 15 minutes
was spent discussing the probation conditions, the recidivism rate,
after adjusting for risk, was 18.9%but the rate was 42.3%when more
that 15 minutes was devoted to this topic.
DISCUSSION
The overall purpose of this study was to better understand how
probation officers use risk-needs assessments to formulate their case
plans and how they manage their cases. This study provided a snap-
shot of present practices. That having been said, the study was not
without methodological limitations and difficulties. We did not have
the participation that we were hoping for, leaving us with relatively
few cases on which to base our findings. The small sample of youth
cases prevented some analyses and the lack of participation by
42 probation officers raised the possibility that the results would
not generalize. However, a comparison of participating and non-
participating probation officers and probationer files revealed few
differences leading us to cautiously conclude that the findings are rep-
resentative of case management practice in Manitoba community
corrections during the period of study.
Over the course of the first three months, probation officers met
with their offenders an average of 4.3 times. There are few reports
in the literature of how often probation officers have face-to-face
contacts with their clients. Latessa (1987) found an average of 1.6
contacts per month in Ohio probation, approximately the same num-
ber that we found in Manitoba probation. This number of contacts
may be appropriate for low risk offenders but the average of 5.7 con-
tacts over three months may be inadequate for high risk offenders.
From a treatment perspective, the recommendation has been that
high risk offenders require at least 100 hours (Lipsey, 1995) and some
have called for 300 hours of treatment (Bourgon & Armstrong, 2005).
The average length of a session between the probation officer and
the probationer was slightly more than 22 minutes. These two
Bonta et al. 265

findings (number of contacts and length of session) raise the
question as to whether or not probation supervision can be effective
with this amount of time spent with probationers. However, we
need to keep in mind that probation officers are involved in other
activities (e.g., making referrals, meeting with collaterals) and not
all of their time is spent in direct contact with their clients. Jester
(1990) estimated that only 30 to 40 percent of a probation=parole
officer’s time is spent in direct contact with offenders. However,
Trotter (1996) contends that a short period of time may be suf-
ficient if that time is properly used. In his study, probation officers
were trained in prosocial modeling and problem-solving and the
probationers receiving supervision from the trained probation offi-
cers demonstrated a recidivism rate of 46%while offenders under
supervision by untrained probation officers had a recidivism rate
of 64%(recidivism was measured at four years). The average length
of session was less than 25 minutes.
The issue that arises from these findings is the need to identify the
reasons why probation officers are not spending more time with their
clients. The most obvious reason may be caseload. However, caseload
size was not associated with either the number of contacts in the first
three months or the length of the audio taped session. Another reason
may be that probation officers are engaged in other activities related
to supervision of the client such as meeting with family members and
dealing with welfare agencies that place limits on the time they can
spend directly with the probationer. Further research in this area is
suggested.
The findings of the present study suggest a lack of follow through
between the assessment and case management. Assessments are com-
pleted according to policy but much of the information from the
assessment fails to make it into the Intervention Plan and even less
is dealt with in the sessions. Harris and her colleagues (Harris,
Gingerich & Whittaker, 2004) also found poor compliance between
the assessment and the action plan in a sample of probation officers
in the United States. One problem may be the physical separation of
the assessment instrument from the Intervention Plan (they are two
separate forms). A possible solution is to integrate the assessment
with the case plan. The Level of Service=Case Management Inventory
(LS=CMI; Andrews, Bonta & Wormith, 2004) does just this and
Manitoba Corrections has adopted this instrument to address the
266 JOURNAL OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION

shortcoming posed by the PRA and the lack of integration with the
Intervention Plan.
Analyses of the audiotapes showed that identified criminogenic
needs were not discussed in the majority of cases. These results
may not be all that surprising given that actions to address offender
needs were loosely formulated in the Intervention Plan. After all, if
the Intervention Plan does not build on the PRA assessment of needs,
then how can we expect probation officers to discuss the problems
of probationers in their sessions? Based on the offender rehabilita-
tion literature, the first step in behavioral change is to identify and
address criminogenic needs. In cases where criminogenic needs were
the focus of supervision, decreases in offender recidivism were found.
It appears that educating and training probation officers to target
their discussions on the criminogenic needs of those they supervise
would be an important step in improving probation effectiveness.
Establishing a good relationship with the offender and then
providing the offender with structured direction are key factors to
reducing recidivism (Andrews & Bonta, 2006). Upon examining the
audio taped interviews we found instances of probation officers
demonstrating warmth, openness, encouragement and other indica-
tors of a positive relationship but in only half of the audiotapes.
The relationship factors did not predict recidivism but this is not
surprising. Relationship oriented therapies alone do not reduce
recidivism; structuring skills are also needed.
Along the structuring and directive dimensions of interpersonal
influence we found, as with relationship skills, that probation officers
could do more. They were quite good in praising and rewarding
offenders when they said something prosocial but missed opportu-
nities to alter antisocial expressions through appropriate discourage-
ment. Other skills (e.g., prosocial modeling, practice) that could be
very effective in changing offender behavior were evident in a
minority of audio taped interviews. The low base rate may explain
why these factors were unrelated to recidivism.
CONCLUSION
Our meta-analytic findings presented earlier on the effectiveness
of community supervision showed that supervision was unrelated
Bonta et al. 267

to recidivism. This is a disturbing finding in a public climate where
the mood is to be tough on offenders. If community supervision does
not ‘‘work’’ in reducing recidivism then is cost-savings the only rea-
son to maintain forms of community supervision? We think not.
We suspect that our findings regarding the low levels of adherence
to the Risk and Need principles and the sparse use of behavioral tech-
niques of influence is not limited to just the jurisdiction that we stud-
ied but may be common to many probation and parole agencies.
Problems with the integrity of service delivery within corrections have
been noted by others (e.g., Harris et al., 2004) and it has been
especially problematic when trying to apply the principles of Risk,
Need and Responsivity (Andrews, 2006; Lowenkamp, Latessa &
Holsinger, 2006; Lowenkamp, Latessa, & Smith, 2006). From our
findings, it is clear that probation officers can learn to do more
and to do it better. Trotter (1996;1999) has demonstrated that train-
ing in prosocial modeling and other structuring techniques can make
a difference and the beneficiaries of such training efforts will be the
staff, the offenders and the community.
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AUTHORS’ NOTES
James Bonta, PhD, Tanya Rugge, PhD, Terri-Lynne Scott, MA, Guy Bourgon,
PhD, and Annie K. Yessine, PhD, are all affiliated with Public Safety Canada,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The research described in this report was conducted with the support of staff from
Community Corrections (Manitoba) and we are indebted to their assistance. The
views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of Public
Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada or Manitoba Department of Justice
(Corrections).
Address correspondence to James Bonta, PhD, Public Safety and Emergency
Preparedness Canada, 340 Laurier Ave. West, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0P8
(E-mail: jim.bonta@psepc.gc.ca).
270 JOURNAL OF OFFENDER REHABILITATION