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1 Chap. J. Crim. Just. 127 (2009)
Risk Assessment in Evidence-Based Sentencing: Context and Promising Sues

handle is hein.journals/chapjcj1 and id is 147 raw text is: Risk Assessment in Evidence-Based Sentencing: Context and Promising Uses Kirk Heilbrun* ALLISON HART, HEATHER GREEN INTRODUCTION Evidence-based sentencing represents an exciting develop- ment in the application of empirical scientific evidence to legal decision-making. It may be considered part of a larger trend, fo- cusing on evidence-based practice and moving away from un- structured professional judgment in health and corrections - par- ticularly during the last decade. In the corrections field, there has been a commensurate shift from nothing works to what works? There has also been an associated emphasis on empiri- cal evidence to answer the latter question.' Researchers and pol- icy makers have developed systematic reviews of the effects of criminological interventions, particularly what is known about prisoner reentry and its impact on the individual, family, and community. All of these stress the importance of identifying what works based on empirical evidence.2 Criminal sentencing involves a legal decision to which cer- tain kinds of evidence may be particularly applicable. In this Ar- ticle, we will focus on the use of risk assessment - the determina- tion of the likelihood that a defendant will engage in a particular kind of behavior in the future, and (for certain kinds of risk as- sessment) the factors which make such behavior more or less likely. Target behaviors in this context are most often general reoffending or violent reoffending. When risk factors (which in- crease the likelihood that such behavior will occur) and protective factors (which decrease such likelihood) are identified, it is often * Professor and Head, Department of Psychology, Drexel University (kirk.heilbrun@ drexel.edu). Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin. I appreciate the invitation from Ri- chard Redding to participate, and also thank the faculty and students at the Chapman University School of Law for their warm reception and their excellent organization of this enjoyable and informative symposium. 1 Francis Cullen & Karen Gilbert, From Nothing Works to What Works: Changing Professional Ideology in the 2111 Century, 81 PRISON J. 313 (2001). 2 Doris MacKenzie, Corrections and Sentencing in the 21V Century: Evidence-Based Corrections and Sentencing, 81 PRISON J. 299 (2001). 127

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