The Effects of Social Services on Probationer Recidivism: a Field Experiment

In the search for recidivism-reducing strategies, intensive probation programs featuring enhanced social services and lower officer caseloads have become a high priority in many correctional jurisdictions. The field experiment reported here employed random assignment of newly sentenced property offenders to intensive or regular probation. A variety of variables, including demographic and past criminal behavior indices, were used to relate service referrals and use of services by clients to multiple measures of recidivism. Analysis of variance, multiple regression, and survival analysis were employed to analyze these data. The results reveal that intensive probation is not measurably superior to conventional procedures. When probationers receive only sparse services or referrals from the probation department, they will secure such services on their own. For felonious property offenders, regular probation is less expensive than intensive probation and no less effective with regard to recidivism.