Probation officers' schemata of offenders: Content, development, and impact on treatment decisions.

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Abstract
Three studies investigated schemata of criminal types held by probation officers (POs). In Study 1, semistructured interviews revealed 10 schemata shared by a high proportion of 40 POs that included information about criminal behavior, social histories, attributions, treatment and supervisory strategies, and prognoses. Experienced POs produced fewer but richer (more detailed) schemata than inexperienced POs. In Study 2, 20 POs and 20 clerical staff sorted items of information into case descriptions to validate the schemata. POs consistently reproduced schemata, but laypeople did not. Among POs, schema detail depended on experience with instances of the case type. Study 3, with additional groups of 20 POs and 20 clerical staff, showed that schematic knowledge affects probation decisions. Cases fitting a schema were evaluated more consistently and distinctively, and judgments were made more quickly, easily, and confidently than for mixed schematic or real cases. These differences existed for experienced POs but not for clerical staff, who lacked schematic knowledge. Theoretical and practical issues of schematic processing, expertise, and decision aids are discussed. (40 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

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