Our hope is that our analysis may help practitioners do their work more effectively. At the same time, it may underscore for researchers that the best intentions still require follow-through. Our focus The goal in corrections is to reduce the risk posed by offenders. Simply put, successful correctional planning for safe reintegration depends on the accurate identification of the criminogenic needs of individual offenders and ensuring that we respond to those needs with relevant program opportunities. But we cannot hope to assess accurately the risk posed by an offender and manage that risk safely without having appropriately handled and communicated information about that offender.
Information is key to risk assessment and management.
This is the framework within which we have organized our thoughts. This article is based on a larger report available from the Investigations Division of the Correctional Service of Canada. We focus here on the findings of our analysis that have lessons for both practitioners and researchers. These two points should be kept in mind as you read this article. Otherwise, you may overestimate the gravity of the problems we will be describing.