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Does a Validated Risk Assessment Reduce the Likelihood of an Individual Recidivating as well as Bond Disparity in Court?

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2020, Master of Science in Criminal Justice, Youngstown State University, Department of Criminal Justice and Consumer Sciences.
The Youngstown Municipal Court began using the Ohio Risk Assessment System in 2018. Research has shown that the adoption of risk assessment tools helped decrease restrictive placements and reduce recidivism rates. However, some critics may argue that the benefits of using a risk assessment will be offset by race or gender bond disparities. This study hypothesizes that the use of the Ohio Risk Assessment System significantly reduces recidivism, racial bond disparities, and gender bond disparities of pretrial arrestees. In order to test these hypotheses, data from 2017 and 2019 were used. The overall objective of this thesis is to investigate the value of risk assessments, specifically the Ohio Risk Assessment System, in a pretrial court. Of the six hypotheses, five of the six were supported in the analysis. ORAS reduced recidivism, the bond type of own recognizance or supervised release was greater for females and minorities in 2019 than in 2017, minorities in 2019 had a lower percentage of high bond amounts than in 2017, and ORAS was the most influential predictor of recidivism. However, statistical significance was not found for hypothesis four. Females in 2019 did not have a lower percentage of high bond amounts than in 2017. The support for five out of the six hypotheses can enlighten other courts on the effectiveness of risk assessments at a pretrial level to find a way to incorporate ORAS in their jurisdiction. Future research is encouraged in order to provide better insight on the cost benefits of the pretrial tool in ORAS.
Christopher Bellas, PhD (Committee Chair)
Carla Baldwin, JD (Committee Member)
David Magura (Committee Member)
John Hazy, PhD (Committee Member)
76 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Lapcevich, H. M. (2020). Does a Validated Risk Assessment Reduce the Likelihood of an Individual Recidivating as well as Bond Disparity in Court? [Master's thesis, Youngstown State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1607718755372284

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lapcevich, Haley. Does a Validated Risk Assessment Reduce the Likelihood of an Individual Recidivating as well as Bond Disparity in Court? 2020. Youngstown State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1607718755372284.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lapcevich, Haley. "Does a Validated Risk Assessment Reduce the Likelihood of an Individual Recidivating as well as Bond Disparity in Court?" Master's thesis, Youngstown State University, 2020. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1607718755372284

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)