NCJ Number
90116
Journal
College Composition and Communication Volume: 33 Issue: 3 Dated: (October 1982) Pages: 288-295
Date Published
1982
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper offers suggestions on writing presentence reports for probation officers which cover the collection of relevant information and methods of presenting hard data to convey tacit evaluations and recommendations.
Abstract
About 60 percent of a probation officer's time is spent processing forms, writing requests for information, and generating long reports. Judges have complained that presentence reports -- documents with important immediate and long-range consequences -- often contain materials that are not relevant to a disposition. One way to reduce the amount of irrelevant information in a report is to avoid writing fuzzy, open-ended requests that produce an overload of data that often is analytic. Most State laws leave the format of presentence reports open, encouraging report clutter. Criteria governing the report's contents vary widely among jurisdictions, although most criminal justice students are taught the form outlined in Robert M. Carter's Presentence Report Handbook. However, this format is oversimplified and does not consider judges' varying perceptions of the presentence report. Many judges request raw data only and discourage any evaluation, while others feel constrained to accept a report's recommendations. Distinguishing between types of statements -- those of verifiable fact and those based on fact but not empirically verifiable -- may help officers organize their reports. Verbally astute individuals perceive the opportunity to work assessments that would be unwelcome by judges as flat statements into reports as inferences. Examples and 15 references are included.