Utilization of an Interview-Based Classification Instrument

Abstract

Presently halfway houses are not being fully utilized; this may be partly due to the unclear guidelines regarding residential placement. The reported research tested the validity of a classification instrument, the Level of Supervision Inventory (LSI), with incarcerated offenders placed into halfway houses. The LSI yielded impressive predictions of both inprogram and postprogram recidivism, it demonstrated acceptable internal reliability, and the instrument showed convergent validity. Furthermore, the LSI provided not only an assessment of risk but it also identified the needs of offenders that can be used to select treatment goals and evaluate intervention programs.