Structured Decision-Making
March 7, 2019
Let's talk about accuracy in determining credibility, remorse, and accountability and examine the need for structured decision-making tools. Correctional professionals, from probation and parole officers to members of paroling authorities, review and consider enormous amounts of information to make the best decisions about offenders under their jurisdiction.These decisions can include if and when to revoke community supervision, when to regress someone from a community correctional facility into prison, and even when to release someone from prison to parole. Such difficult decisions can often become clouded by one's subjectivity — a subjectivity driven by both implicit and explicit biases. One of the most prevalent explicit biases in the field today is the belief that we as correctional professionals have a high level of skill and accuracy in determining whether offenders are credible and/or remorseful for their behaviors. This explicit bias is actually an over-inflation of our true skills and can lead to problematic decisions that are not based in evidence-informed risk and are not uniformly applied. This engaging workshop will explore research on credibility assessment and remorse and will alsogo over structured decision-making tools and how they can act as a roadblock to the "credibility and remorse bias" that gets in the way of objectivity. This discussion is key for leaders who make decisions that involve the liberty of offenders under theirsupervision and want to ensure their agencies are as objective and evidence-informed as possible.
Presenter: Brandon Mathews, Ph.D.
About the Presenter
Dr. Brandon Mathews is a practitioner, academic, and innovator focusing on carceral systems and organizations. He has recent practical experience leading residential community correctional facilities in Colorado, including specialty treatment programs, and has served as a member of a paroling authority in the Mountain Region. He received both an M.S. and a Doctor of Management degree from Colorado Technical University.
In a previous life, Dr. Mathews was an investigator in the correctional environment, receiving training in interviewing and interrogation, ultimately becoming certified as a Forensic Interviewer. He also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Criminal Justice at two universities in Colorado. His recent research includes the development of the Risk Assessment Fidelity Tool, which evaluates fidelity to the Level of Supervision Inventory; co-development of the Implementation Leadership Model; and co-development of the Innovate for Impact Integrative Practice Model for community organizations engaged in reentry work.
Recently published works have appeared in Criminal Justice Studies, Journal of Criminal Justice Education, Corrections: Policy, Practice, and Research, Journal of Community Corrections, Organization Development Journal, and Journal of Organizational Change Management. Dr. Mathews has been presenting and speaking nationally for years, having recently delivered keynote addresses at the American Probation and Parole Association's 2018 Winter Training Institute in Houston, the Association of Paroling Authorities International Training Conference in Lake Tahoe, and the DisruptHR event in Denver, and he appeared on the TEDxMileHigh stage in the summer of 2017