Legal and extralegal offender traits and decision making in the criminal justice system

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Abstract
On the basis of multiple regression analysis, a number of legal and extralegal adult offender traits were examined as determinants of the severity of probation officers’ presentence recommendations and judicial dispositions and success on probation. Data were collected on a total of 399 cases on which presentence recommendations were requested by the criminal court of a large southern city. Analysis revealed that some legal statuses have a moderate degree of influence with respect to determining presentence recommendation and disposition. It was also found that judges follow very closely the recommendations in their decisions; the implications of this association are discussed. Very little influence of offender traits on probability of probation success could be detected, however. Theoretical implications are presented, and it is argued that the inconsistency between offender trait influences on decisions and the prediction of probation success suggests organizational dynamics as the important elements in determining patterns of decision making in the justice system.