NCJ Number
134790
Journal
Howard Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 30 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1991) Pages: 293-300
Date Published
1991
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article reports the main findings of a local study that compared sentencing outcomes for offenders sentenced in the British Crown Court with and without social inquiry reports.
Abstract
The study examined all Crown Court sentencing in 1988 for which a report either was or would have been prepared by the Mid-Glamorgan Probation Service. Information on cases where no full social inquiry report had been prepared was obtained from probation service court liaison records and court files in the three Crown Courts that process virtually all Mid-Glamorgan business. There were no significant differences between the courts regarding the likelihood of a report being prepared. The study found that for young adult offenders, the social inquiry report is an integral part of the sentencing process. For older adults, however, the report is optional. Report preparation thus focuses appropriately on high-risk groups, and the effect of the report is to make noncustodial dispositions available for this group. Among older adults in the "middle-risk" group, the chance of immediate custody is twice as great for those on whom a full report is available compared to those sentenced without a report (37 percent compared to 18 percent). Sentencing guidelines that limit the use of custody and set clearer criteria could reduce the risk of reporting practices having unintended effects on the use of custody. 5 tables and 6 references