"Perhaps the most significant improvement in the field of corrections over the last several decades has been the advancement and routinization of risk and risk–need assessment instruments within justice agencies (Andrews, Bonta, and Wormith, 2006; Bonta, 2002). Actuarial risk-prediction instruments can tell us which offenders are most likely to reoffend as well as whom among the offender population we might want to target for more intensive rehabilitative programming.1 Adhering to the risk principle by targeting higher risk offenders and matching the intensity of controls and services to risk levels has been found to improve the effectiveness of correctional interventions (Andrews and Bonta, 2010; Dowden and Andrews, 1999a, 1999b; Landenberger and Lipsey, 2005; Lowenkamp and Latessa, 2005; Lowenkamp, Latessa, and Holsinger, 2006)."
Letter from the White House
President Obama wrote me a letter today, thanking me for sharing my "thoughtful suggestions" (about putting prisoners to work, prison reform, etc ., as you may read on this weblog).