NCJ Number
220760
Journal
Criminology & Public Policy Volume: 6 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2007 Pages: 843-850
Date Published
November 2007
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper suggests how criminologists can help prevent murder or any other crime by providing three resources to probation and parole agencies and personnel.
Abstract
First, criminologists can enable the precise forecasting of probationers most at risk for serious, rare crimes, not just reoffending in general. Second, criminologists can assist in the precise diagnosis of specific mental health problems or risk factors for clients likely to commit murder. Third, criminologists can provide systematic reviews of the literature on the most effective treatments for each probationer's needs and causes of their criminal behavior. These recommendations for the role of criminologists in preventing murder by probationers is informed by 2 years of developmental work in the Penn Violence Reduction Partnership between Philadelphia's Adult Probation and Parole Department and the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania. The evidence developed by this partnership is the basis for this paper's discussion of the concentration of homicide among offenders sentenced to community corrections, the forecasting of homicide by and against individual offenders under correctional supervision, the diagnosis of risk factors linked with these forecasts, and the design and delivery of programs intended to prevent homicides. The author concludes that the evidence for a probation agency's ability to prevent murder by probationers under its supervision is sufficiently strong to warrant national funding for this effort. Suggestions are offered for the features of funded programs. 10 references