© British Association of Social Workers
Sentencing and Recidivism: an Analysis by Personality Tyoe
William McWilliams trained as a probation officer and worked in London and Liverpool, also in Nottingham as a senior probation officer. He was seconded to the Home Office Research Unit for four years where he carried out a study of homeless offenders, and was responsible for the development of part of the national experimental research IMPACT (Intensive Matched Probation and After-Care Treatment). Both studies have been published recently by HMSO. He is now the research officer of the South Yorkshire Probation and After-Care Service
Summary
This article describes some personality and other characteristics of a sample of 230 male offenders in London, and relates these variables to recommendations made by probation officers, sentences passed by the courts, and the outcome of penal treatment in terms of further convictions. The probation officers in the study were more likely to recommend probation for introverted neurotics than any other personality type, and once on probation this group was the least likely to be reconvicted. Offenders who were extravert attracted the largest proportion of recommendations for custodial sentences, and on probation the extraverts who scored low on neuroticism were most likely to be reconvicted. A tentative explanation of the findings is offered in terms of a probation 'treatment success hierarchy'