Re-contextualizing pre-sentence reports

Abstract

In the past two decades, Canadian policies governing the structure and content of presentence reports (PSRs) have shifted to focus more directly on the systematic identification of offender’s criminogenic risk and needs. In this article, we (1) examine how risk-based approaches to offender management have altered the structure and format of the PSR in Canada, and (2) contrast the structure of risk-based PSRs to Gladue reports for Aboriginal offenders in Canada. Gladue reports are designed to identify the unique systemic race/cultural and historical factors specific to Aboriginal offenders and to recommend alternatives to incarceration. We argue that although risk-based PSRs incorporate recognition of race-related issues, their structure and emphasis on actuarially based risk assessments frames race and risk differently from Gladue reports. In Gladue reports, holistic approaches and cultural impact factors are documented and used to understand risk and need. Finally, we argue that the conceptualization and relevance of race is limited by actuarial risk logic.

Assessing Convicted Traffickers: Negotiating Migration, Employment and Opportunity through Restricted Networks

“…Despite their limits as official documents produced in the processing of court cases, PSRs have been found useful in classifying offenders due to the consistency and standardisation (Danni and Hampe ; Hudson and Bramhall ). However, concerns have been raised regarding the framing of diverse subjects in criminal justice processes (for example, see Hannah‐Moffat and Maurutto ; Hudson and Bramhall ). Little attention is paid to ethnicity in risk assessments, which raises concerns when tools developed with white males in western countries are used with diverse populations (Maurutto and Hannah‐Moffat , p.444).…”

“…Little attention is paid to ethnicity in risk assessments, which raises concerns when tools developed with white males in western countries are used with diverse populations (Maurutto and Hannah‐Moffat , p.444). The increasingly narrow focus of PSRs in focusing on factors that an individual has in common with an aggregate population rather than on the individual's history and background means that cultural and ethnic backgrounds of offenders can be neglected (for example, see Hannah‐Moffat and Maurutto ). Although this created a limit on the data, a gap in discussion relating to diversity in the narrative data sources had potential to be as revealing as its presence.…”

“…Risk is widely recognised as a central component in approaches to offender management (for example, see Feeley and Simon ; Hannah‐Moffat ; Hannah‐Moffat and Maurutto ; Robinson ), surviving changes brought through the Transforming Rehabilitation agenda with risk reduction representing the primary element of good quality supervision (Robinson et al . ).…”

Reducing Prison Sentencing Through Pre‐Sentence Reports? Why the Quasi‐Market Logic of ‘Selling Alternatives to Custody’ Fails

“…The provision of Reports may be called for by the court at its discretion, or, mandated by law in certain kinds of cases, as has increasingly been the case in both England and Wales and in Scotland. The provision of such Reports (which go by different names across time and jurisdictions), has become both increasingly prevalent and pivotal to sentence decision making in a range of jurisdictions, including Belgium (for example, Beyens and Scheirs ); Canada (for example, Cole and Angus ; Hannah‐Moffat ; Quirouette ); Denmark (Wandall ); New Zealand (Deane ); the USA (for example, Fruchtman and Sigler ); England and Wales (for example, Gelsthorpe and Raynor ; Jacobson and Hough ; Robinson , ); Ireland (Carr and Maguire ); Australia (for example, Hickey and Spangaro ); and Scotland (for example, Tata ; Tata et al . ).…”

The creation of the expected Aboriginal woman drug offender in Canada

“…Denial of special consideration for Aboriginal women in the criminal justice system reflects an increasing state and public acceptance of intolerant stereotypes about Aboriginal women as offenders (Carter, 2002;Hannah-Moffat and Maurutto, 2010;Monture-Angus, 1999). Dell (2001;Dell et al, 2009) documents how Aboriginal women are unfairly stigmatized within the justice system and consequently face misunderstanding, neglect, and misrepresentation in the courtroom.…”