The Differential Impacts of Probation Staff Attitudes on Use of Evidence-Based Practices

The evidence-based policy movement has become an important feature of community corrections systems. As part of this movement, community corrections agencies emphasize the use of standardized assessments to inform case planning with probationers. Despite evidence supporting the use of these practices, research documents many challenges with implementation of these best practices in routine probation work; however, little attention has been paid to the impact of staff attitudes toward use of evidence-based practices on correctional reform. The current study's analyses indicate that when individual probation staff had positive perceptions regarding their agency, they held more positive attitudes toward evidence-based assessment practices and reported using case planning practices more frequently. Implications surrounding organizational change and evidence-based practice implementation efforts are discussed. (publisher abstract modified)