Community Supervision and Rehabilitation: Two Studies of Offenders on Supervised Bonds

• NCJ Number: 222874
• Author(s): Don Weatherburn; Lily Trimboli
• Date Published: February 2008
• Length: 20 pages
• Sale Source: New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: Australia
• Note: Crime and Justice Bulletin, Number 12, February 2008; downloaded May 29, 2008.

Annotation

This bulletin presents the findings of two New South Wales (Australia) studies, one which assessed the effectiveness of offender supervision in the community by comparing reoffending (as measured by reconviction) among adult offenders under supervision compared with a matched sample of offenders on unsupervised bonds, and a second study that surveyed New South Wales parole staff regarding their comments on the findings of the first study.

Abstract

The first study found that offenders placed on supervised bonds were no less likely to reoffend than offenders placed on unsupervised bonds. The second study found that parole staff explained these findings by significant barriers to the rehabilitation of adult offenders on supervised bonds in New South Wales, including the lack of access to suitable mental health, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and disability treatment, as well as inadequate supervision and difficulties in securing stable and affordable accommodation. The combined findings of these two studies suggest that the reason supervision did nothing to reduce reoffending is that the offenders did not receive the level of supervision and services required to change offender behaviors. The authors recommend a systematic review of the range, quality, accessibility, and effectiveness of rehabilitative programs and services for offenders under community supervision orders in New South Wales. In the first study, the "treatment" group consisted of the 4,432 offenders placed on supervised bonds in 2000. The control group consisted of the 8,406 offenders placed on a bond without any supervision requirement during the same year. The outcome examined was reoffending, which researchers defined as conviction for a further offense committed within 5 years of the index court appearance. For the second study, the target sample size of parole officers surveyed was 155; of this group, 68 percent of the officers completed the survey. 18 tables, 9 notes, and 21 references