Pre/Post Comparisons: Prison or Probation

Abstract

The analysis of these offenders’ arrest-rate patterns has thus far focused on the entire follow-up period or on somewhat arbitrary age blocks. Decisions regarding sentencing policy, however, must occur at particular points in these careers: at the point of sentencing. It is important, therefore, both to apply and to assess the applicability of these global patterns to the understanding of patterns observable at that important juncture. In this chapter, the results of analyses similar to those performed earlier using arrest data for the periods prior to and following a probation or prison sentence will be presented.