Are Supervision Practices Procedurally Fair? Development and Predictive Utility of a Procedural Justice Measure for Use in Community Corrections Settings

Abstract

This study describes the development and refinement of a practical measure for use by community supervision staff to assess the extent to which individuals under community supervision perceive the supervision process as fair. Seven items functioned statistically and theoretically well. Results showed a clear, one-factor structure. The resulting measure demonstrated significant relationships with supervision outcomes of both crime and technical violations across two independent community supervision samples. This practical measure is grounded in theory and provides supervision agencies with a tool to measure the degree to which the interactions between supervisees and officers are positive and prosocial, and facilitate outcomes that are perceived as legitimate. Findings are framed within the “what works” corrections literature, and the important, yet underresearched theory of procedural justice as it related to community corrections settings.