Classification of Women Offenders: A National Assessment of Current Practices and the Experiences of Three States
Publication year:
2001
| Cataloged on:
Oct. 31, 2006
ANNOTATION: The development of improved strategies for classifying female offenders is addressed. Sections of this report include: introduction; issues in classifying women offenders -- the literature review; national assessment of current female offender classification practices; focus groups with corrections professionals and women offenders; directions for technical assistance (TA); TA -- Hawaii Department of Public Safety; TA -- Nebraska Department of Correctional Services; TA -- Colorado Department of Corrections; and lessons learned -- female offenders can be classified using instruments currently utilized with some adjustments, measures of offender needs offer substantial contributions to the validity of a custody classification system, precise definitions and accurate measurement are important considerations, the cooperative agreement reduced over-classification but did not nullify it, and over-classification is not only found in the classification system.