THE SUPERVISION OF OFFENDERS -WHAT WORKS? A study undertaken in Community Based Corrections, Victoria. BY CHRISTOPHER TROTTER REPORT TO THE AUSTRALIAN CRIMINOLOGY

Does it Work? This question has been asked for many years about different corrections programs. In particular, the effectiveness of community supervision of offenders who are placed on parole, probation and community based orders has been questioned. Numerous studies in the seventies and eighties pointed to the ineffectiveness of supervision. Various researchers suggested that it does not matter whether offenders are supervised or not, how often they are supervised or what you do with them, nothing seems to make any difference. Others argue however that the apparent ineffectiveness revealed by the research camouflages positive and negative effects. Some styles of supervision help to rehabilitate offenders and some actually have the opposite effect. They make them worse. This study attempts to shed some light on this controversy. The study involved the teaching of a particular model of supervision to a group of Community Corrections Officers in Community Based Corrections in Victoria. The different aspects of the model have each been found in research studies to be related to reduced re-offending rates when used in the community supervision of offenders. The study also considers the impact on offenders, of association with other offenders, whilst undertaking unpaid community work. Clients of those Community Corrections Officers who undertook the training and who agreed to use the model, were followed up through a client questionnaire. Information was also gathered from client files. The clients who were supervised by those Community Corrections Officers who were involved in the project indicated that they received