For this assignment, I chose the journal article entitled “People’s reasons for wanting to complete probation: Use and predictive validity in an e-health intervention.” The idea is that people under community supervision were previously thought to be more responsive to the threat of external consequences such as having to pay fees, facing increased time on supervision and receiving time in jail. However, offenders facing and receiving punishment within the criminal justice system have been found to have more wide-ranging reasons for completing supervision such as employment, family and improved lifestyles. The purpose of this article is to evaluate whether the results of a survey about the reasons individuals wanted to complete probation was reliable and predictively valid and focuses on the outcomes of such a survey.
Identify the Key Questions Addressed
This study assessed the effectiveness of two short motivational …show more content…
I felt that the study revealed that for the offender population, it is crucial to internally develop a purpose for completing probation for one’s own motivation. However, if there is scientific proof that one’s reasons for completing probation are a strong determinant in how well they do with substance abuse, probation compliance and subsequently, the successful completion of probation, then I think it does become an agent’s or authority figure’s duty to change an offender’s mindset as to what is a “correct” motivation. I think that this counters motivational interviewing in that it does not “respect” the offender’s own motivation for completion of probation because their motivation is in effect, wrong and less effective than those motivators that showed success in the