RESEARCH FOR DECISION-MAKING IN CORRECTIONS (FROM AMERICAN CORRECTIONAL ASSOCIATION - PROCEEDINGS OF THE NINETY-NINTH ANNUAL COLLEGE OF CORRECTION SEE NCJ-02839)

• NCJ Number: 10094
• Author(s): J CONRAD
• Date Published: 1969
• Length: 7 pages
• Corporate Author: American Correctional Association
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: PAPER PRESENTED AT ACA MEETING, MINNEAPOLIS, MN AUG 17-22, 1969

Annotation

CORRECTIONS MUST GRADUALLY ADOPT A NEW PARADIGM OF ORGANIZATION IN WHICH THE PSYCHOLOGIST ASSUMES A CENTRAL ROLE IN DETERMINING THE NATURE OF PROGRAMS.

Abstract

THE CORRECTIONS PSYCHOLOGIST HAS REMAINED ON THE PERIPHERY OF TREATMENT FOR TOO LONG, BEING ASKED TO HANDLE ACUTELY DISTURBED INMATES AND PROPHESY THE PAROLE PERFORMANCE OF OFFENDERS. THE AUTHOR ENVISIONS A NEW DYNAMIC SYSTEM IN WHICH THE PSYCHOLOGIST CAN APPLY HIS SKILLS TO CREATING NEW KINDS OF OFFENDER AND TREATMENT CLASSIFICATIONS REQUIRING NEW KINDS OF DECISIONS. DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT THEN BECOMES THE STRUCTURE OF PROGRAM PLANNING. THE PSYCHOLOGIST, AIDED BY SOCIAL SCIENCE KNOWLEDGE AND MODERN COMPUTER TECHNIQUES, WOULD BE BETTER ABLE TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROGRAMS, THEREBY RENDERING HIS RESEARCH MORE ACCURATE AND PLACING HIM IN A KEY DECISION-MAKING ROLE FOR BOTH PROGRAM PLANNING AND BUDGETING.