Communication between Probation and Parole Agents and their Clients

近几十年来，缓刑、假释、监狱和监狱人数的增长要求增加公共支出，这往往限制了可用于其他基本服务的资金，如教育和医疗保健。有效的社区监督(即缓刑和假释)提供了控制这些成本的可能性，因为它使人们远离监狱和监狱，增加他们的就业，并促进个人和社区的健康和福利。缓刑和假释官影响罪犯的主要方式之一是通过监督期间发生的讨论。然而，与医生和其他医疗和心理健康专业人员如何有效地与患者互动的知识相比，人们对如何增加缓刑和假释官对罪犯的积极影响知之甚少。先前对在社区接受监督的妇女的研究表明，当监督人员向违法者提供建立亲社会生活方式所需的信息(例如，寻找工作或避免滥用药物的战略)时，它减少了监督失误，并限制了成本。研究还表明，与违法者进行双向对话可以提高他们对要求的遵从性。这项研究的主要目的是确定对男性和女性罪犯都有效的具体沟通形式。这一目标很重要，因为(1)接受监督的男性和女性面临不同的问题，(2)研究表明，男性和女性对相同信息的反应往往不同。此外，由于接受社区监督的人不成比例地是非裔美国人，这项研究还考察了少数族裔和多数族裔男性和女性在有效沟通方面的差异。这些知识对于有效利用社区监督资源以及发展教育和培训项目至关重要。本研究运用传播学和心理学的理论和研究方法，以期更好地理解警犯之间的有效沟通。它检查了警官和罪犯对监督、互动的看法，并测试了这些看法中的性别和种族差异。这项研究的关键问题是：(1)沟通的内容和方式能预测随后的积极和消极行为吗？(2)沟通对结果的影响在性别和种族群体中是否有所不同？特别是，重点是关于减少累犯率的三个关键领域的沟通：就业、滥用药物和与违法者的接触。这项研究还包括一项实验，例如，测试以信息为导向的信息如果支持犯罪者的自主性，是否会更有效。最后，这项研究确定了来自监管人员的信息对违法者的行为具有持久的积极影响。为了解决这些问题，将对90名监督官员和300名男性和300名女性进行研究。警务人员将完成两次网上调查，违法者将完成两次面谈，每隔六个月进行一次。官方来源将用于收集犯罪历史数据、监管强度、违反监管要求、新逮捕和新定罪的数据。包括官员和罪犯的视角以及官方数据将为监管过程提供独特的见解。这一裁决反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In recent decades the growth in the number of people on probation, on parole, in jail, and in prison has required increased public expenditures, often limiting funds available for other essential services such as education and health care. Effective community supervision (i.e., probation and parole) offers the possibility of containing these costs when it keeps people out of jail and prison, increases their employment, and promotes individual and community health and welfare. One of the main ways that probation and parole officers can influence offenders is through the discussions that occur during supervision. However, compared to knowledge about how doctors and other medical and mental health professionals interact effectively with patients, little is known about ways to increase the positive impact that probation and parole officers can have on offenders. Prior research on women who are supervised in the community has shown that when supervising officers give offenders the information they need to establish a prosocial lifestyle (e.g., strategies to find jobs or avoid substance misuse), it reduces supervision failures and limits costs. It also showed that having a two-way conversation with offenders increased their compliance with requirements. The main goal of this research is to determine the specific forms of communication that are effective for both male and female offenders. This goal is important because (1) men and women on supervision face different problems, and (2) research has shown that men and women often respond differently to the same messages. In addition, because people who are under community supervision are disproportionately African American, the study also examines differences in effective communication for men and women from minority versus majority groups. This knowledge is essential for making efficient use of community supervision resources and for developing educational and training programs. The study uses communication and psychological theories and research methods to gain a better understanding of effective officer-offender communication. It examines both officer and offender perceptions of supervision interactions and tests for gender and race differences in those perceptions. The study addresses the key questions: (1) Do the content and manner of communication predict subsequent positive and negative behavior? (2) Is the effect of communication on outcomes different for gender and racial groups? In particular, the focus is on communication about three areas critical to reducing recidivism: employment, substance misuse, and contact with people who break the law. The research also includes an experiment testing whether, for example, informational-oriented messages are more effective if they support the offender's autonomy. Finally, the study identifies messages from supervising officers that have lasting positive effects on offenders' actions. To address these questions, ninety supervising officers and 300 men and 300 women from their caseloads will be studied. Officers will complete two on-line surveys and offenders will complete two interviews, both at six-month intervals. Official sources will be used to gather criminal history data, data on supervision intensity, non-compliance with supervision requirements, new arrests, and new convictions. Including both officer and offender perspectives as well as official data will provide unique insights into the supervision process.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.