Preparing a Pre-Sentence Report - Case Study Example

LAW FOR SOCIAL WORK Name Institution INTRODUCTION The major role of the justice department is (NSW) is to deliver legal, court and well as supervision services. This is achieved through court management of courts and justice services in addition to the implementation of programs to reduce re-offending and crime. The department offers justice conferences to youth offenders referred to by either the police or the courts. It is the responsibility of the justice department (NSW) to offer the government advice regarding the law, administer community justice centers as well as the courts (Department of Juvenile Justice NSW). In addition to this, the department implements effectual diversionary and intervention programs and offering crime victims support services. The department endeavors to create a just and safe place for its members. This paper discusses how one would go about preparing a pre-sentence report to assist the court on passing the sentence of a fifteen year old. The juvenile was charged with using a stolen a car in a series of robberies. Among the charges attributed to the fifteen year old are stealing, armed robberies, reckless and unlicensed driving. The paper outlines the areas to be covered in the report, the process involved in data collection, sorting out the collected information and the principles that would be useful in the completion of the report. Moreover, the paper gives a critical analysis of organizational, ethical and practical issues that are likely to be encountered during the report writing process. AREAS COVERED IN THE REPORT The major purpose of the report is to offer assistance to the sentencing authority to arrive at a suitable disposition for an offender. Written reports are only provided upon a judge’s or magistrate’s request. There are several areas that should be covered in depth in a pre-sentence report. The areas that are likely to be covered in the report include the details of the offender, the present offence and the history of the custodian. Other areas include management and health factors (Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure). The offender’s details are an important aspect in the report. The details should include the name of the offender the date of birth or the offender’s age. Additionally such details as sex should also be included. These details are very important. Details such as age and sex are put into consideration when passing court sentences. On the other hand, they are important for documentation purposes. Before indicating the offender’s details, the date the report was requested and supplied should be noted down. Additionally the judge’s or magistrate’s name and the name of the court are also recorded in the report (Cohen, 2008). Another significant aspect in a pre-sentence report is the information regarding the current offence as well as the history of the custodian. The report should include a general description of the current offence (Bartol, 1999) For instance; in this case the fifteen year old was driving without a license, engaged in armed robbery as well as careless driving. Additionally a concise outline of the attitudes of the offender towards the present offences should be offered. Care should be taken to ensure that this information does not exceed one paragraph in length. Any key discrepancies between the sentencing transcript and the offender’s account should be clearly noted down. In addition to this, a victim impact report should also be attached to the report (Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure). Information should also be provided regarding the current orders in progress if applicable. In connection to this the type of the community based order should be stated and the source of information provided. For example the offender’s self report could serve as a source of information. A general summary of the offender’s correctional history should be offered as well (Children Criminal Proceedings Act, 2011).The main analytical components of the correctional history should include the compliance details with the prior community based orders. This should include the services, programs and activities that were taken in order to correct the offending behavior. The analysis of the type of non-compliance on the side of the offender should be availed as well. Moreover, the reason as to why the offender failed to succeed on the previous orders need to be exploited. The non-compliant behavior patterns and their links should also be provided (Bartol, 1999). The management factors in the report include the offender’s financial status, housing, location and education. When analyzing the offender’s financial status it might be necessary to provide documentary evidence. Financial information is important in determining for instance whether the offender can afford a rehabilitation program or not. An overview of the offender’s housing should be offered (Cohen, 2008). This assists in establishing whether the offender has stable housing or not. The current location address of the offender should be assessed to establish whether it is suitable incase the offender is rehabilitated. The educational background of the offender is very significant. Information such as the school history should be clearly reviewed. Past work experiences as well as vocational training should be documented in the report. If there are details where the offender had displayed interest in learning or engaging in further education, they should be clearly outlined. Furthermore, any significant academic background such as undergraduate or graduate should be outlined in the report (Bartol, 1999). The details of health factors concerning the offender are also very crucial. However, care should be taken to avoid including those details that are not relevant to either the offending or successive management of the criminal on a community based order. For instance this may include blood pressure, diabetes or heart complications. If the offender has any diagnosed health issue, it should be include in the report (Cohen, 2008). Nevertheless, the information regarding the offender’s health should be verified. Information concerning drug usage by the offender should be provided as well. Therefore, an overview of both offender’s present and history on the use of drugs is significant. Establish and clearly outline the offender’s information regarding current rehabilitation program if applicable. The details should include the type of program drug as well as dosage. In case of challenging problematic usage, the offender’s likely willingness and eligibility to attend to external rehabilitation services should be outlined. This should include details of the probable rehabilitation program such as out-patient and in-patient. The other details to be included are the address; name as well the offender’s potential availability (Cohen, 2008.) The presentence report also includes the sentencing options. In this part penalties that are authorized by the statute are along with those types of sentences that are available under guidelines are provided. The custody guideline provisions, supervised release, probation and fines are also included here. Moreover those factors that may warrant departure or variance are clearly stated in the report. This includes the statement of the probation officer and may include the basis for a sentence that is outside the applicable sentence range (Cohen, 2008.) DATA COLLECTION Data collection in an important stage in the process of writing presentence report. The data collection process involves gathering information that is required in the report. In this stage it is important to weigh the evidence based on the best available information. The final report should be made of the information that is accurate as well as relevant. The main objective is producing a report that can be relied on in making sentencing decisions. However it is investable to find some percentage of data that cannot be verified. Such information should be clearly outlined. When writing the report, it is necessary to differentiate between opinions and conclusion, facts and inferences. Data collection thus involves the process of gathering facts. This process should start immediately after the defendant has been referred for a pre-sentence investigation. Data collection involves carrying out concurrent investigation in order to meet the strict deadline (Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 2016). The first stage in data collection is the review of records. During the investigation, several documents need to be reviewed. Review of documents is necessary as it will provide information about the defendant. Some of the documents that need to be reviewed include plea agreements, previous parole or probation reports, records on substance abuse, pretrial service records, financial and employment records, scholastic records and investigative reports from various agencies. Before reviewing any document, it is important to scrutinize it thoroughly to ensure the information it offers is accurate and can be relied on (Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, 2016). Review of the relevant documents offers the information that is needed to investigate the offense. The investigation of the offense begins with the assessment of the complaint, the indictment charging the defendant as well as the docket that is recounting the judicial history of the case. This information will assist in developing a short chronological history of the case’s prosecution and to identify the specific charges that were as a result of the conviction. Review of the files of the clerk may expose the co-defendants or and other related cases whose status should be assessed and reported in the pre-sentence report. The information regarding the history of the offender, release status and the circumstances can be sought out from the pretrial service officer (Cohen, 2008.) Before interviewing the defendant regarding the offender, it is important to review the official descriptions about the offense conduct and guidelines that are applicable. It is therefore necessary to postpone any discussion about the offense until the second interview. The offender should be requested to submit a written a statement concerning the offense (Christopher and Louise ,2001). An inquiry about the offender’s criminal history should be conducted. This can be accomplished by use of databases that are maintained by the state or agencies that reinforce law in the state. All instances in which the offender has been involved in criminal activities should be clearly outlined. The examination of the offender criminal history records offers assistance in law, court and the correctional records to be reviewed. During the defendants’ initial interview the offender’s residential history should be questioned so that records in all jurisdictions where the offender has resided must be scrutinized. In addition employment, financial, mental and educational records concerning the offender might be reviewed (Christopher and Louise ,2001). . Report investigation purely involved document review and interviewing concerned parties. The offender must therefore be interviewed. The defendant should be interviewed in every case unless he declines. Other parties to be interview include the defense counsel, law enforcement agents who conducted the investigation of the demeanor that led to the conviction of the offender, victims, the defendant’s family and the prosecutor. It is very necessary to be proficient in the technique of questioning in order to gather information from these diverse interviewing contexts (Christopher and Louise, 2001). The defendant’s interview is pivotal point in presentence investigation. The format is usually a structured interview during which a worksheet that is standard is often completed. The format of the worksheet resembles that of the presentence report and offers space for recording data regarding the history and the characteristics of the offense. Not all the information solicited from the offender will appear in the final report. However care should be taken that all questions that are asked have purposes (Christopher and Louise, 2001). DETERMINING THE RELEVANT INFORMATION During the data collection process it is important to determine the information that is relevant to the report. Some of the information acquired during the process of gathering data might not be useful in the presentence report. It is therefore necessary to weigh the evidence based information to ascertain that the final report contains information that is accurate. The main objective of writing the report is to create a report that can be relied upon by the court. However the availability of data that cannot be verified is quite investable and such data should be labeled clearly. When interviewing various parties for instance it is very important to be able to distinguish between facts and opinions. This skill will assist in recording data that is relevant to the objectives of the report. In this regard, it is very important to define the purpose of the clearly as this will serve as a guideline in collection of relevant information. During the data collection process different document are reviewed. Some of the documents reviewed include scholastic records, parole records and substance abuse records. It is significant to scrutinize the documents in order to determine the likely accuracy of the record. Moreover scrutinizing the documents will assist in establishing whether the information in the document is relevant or not. a clear outline of the scope of the report will therefore serve as a checklist for those documents that contain relevant information and those that do not. When conducting interview of different parties, the social worker to be careful and aim at the collection of relevant information. It should be noted that not all the information gathered will appear in the final report. This can be arrived at through employment of a variety of proficient questioning techniques. The question asked during the interview should therefore have a purpose. The emphasis during the questioning process is to identify the information that is relevant (Maveal, 1995). PRINCIPLES The elementary duty of social workers is to offer enhancement of human well-being and offer help in meeting the needs of all people. For instance in our the pre-sentence report should be written in such a way that it meets the needs of the different parties concerned such as the offender, the state and the society at large. Any recommendations concerning the offender’s sentence should take into consideration of the needs of the other stakeholders. Social work particularly pays special attention to people who are vulnerable such as the juveniles and the oppressed and the poor. Social work pays special attention to those forces that address the problems of living. The ethical principles in social work are herein considered important in the completion of any presentence report since it is part of social work. These principles based on the core values of social work include worth of the person, integrity, social justice, competence, and the importance of human relations (Maveal, 1995). The primary objective of any social worker is to offer assistance to those people in need and to attend to social problems. In writing the report therefore this principle should serve as a guideline so that the interests of the juvenile offender are thoroughly addressed. The service should be elevated above the interest of the social worker. In order to address social problems and assist those in need, social workers draw on their skills, values and knowledge (Maveal, 1995). . Another ethical principle that would be useful in writing the report states that: social workers challenge social injustice. It is therefore, the role of social workers to pursue social change especially on behalf of those who are vulnerable. The social workers focus on the issues of poverty, discrimination and unemployment. These activities promote knowledge and sensitivity about ethic and cultural diversity as well as oppression. This principle would serve to offer guidance in accessing the needed information about the offender. It would be important when making the final recommendations regarding the most suitable sentence (Maveal, 1995). During the report writing process it is important to respect the dignity and the worth of the offender. In presentence report, the offender should be treated in a caring and respectful manner. Individual, cultural as well as ethnicity differences should be taken into consideration. Social work involve enhancement of the capacity of the client, the client’s opportunity to change and his/ her own needs (Leanne, 2010). When writing the report, it is important to take into consideration the fact social work bears dual responsibility to the society and the client. The report should thus offer resolution to the conflict existing between the offender and the society. These conflicts should be solved in a manner that is socially responsible and in line with the profession’s values, ethical principles and standards. When writing the report the central importance of human relations should be recognized. Human relationships are important vehicles for change. Additionally during the report writing process the social worker should ensure he behaves in such a manner that he can be trusted. In the report a promotion of ethical practices should be demonstrate (Leanne, 2010). Competence is an essential principle in the completion of the report. Social work comprises of the practice of competence areas as well as the enhancement of professional expertise. It is the role the social worker to strive and increase his/her knowledge. This professional knowledge is significant in writing the report (Leanne, 2010). ISSUES IN WRITING PRE-SENTENCE REPORT Accountability is one of the major issues usually encountered in pre-sentence report writing. Criticism, whether justified or not is threatening to one’s self esteem. Professionals however should not take the criticism as personal. Instead, they should interpret it as a way of developing ethical practice. Apart from involving the passive sense, accountability involves active commitment in which a social worker may seek out to counter criticism which is unjustified. Being accountable practically incorporates the keeping of proper records, writing reviews of cases, attending case conferences, giving evidence, attending court as well as writing court reports. This work positions the social worker under public scrutiny and dictates that the practitioners should be accountable (Leanne, 2010). Accountability involves meeting the strict deadlines. Pre-sentence reports are normally accompanied by strict deadlines. It is thus challenging for the social worker to complete the report within the given time. Failure to complete the report on time has accountability issues. For instance in an attempt to meet the strict deadline, the social worker might be in a hurry and produce a report with so many grammatical errors. Consequently the error may render the report unintelligible hence difficult to interpret. On the practical issue of accountability, the report should be written after a thorough investigation. This is challenging since sometimes the social worker might not be able to carry out the investigation due to pressure to meet the given deadline. In some situations you may find that the social worker has been assigned a lot of work causing him/her to produce work that is not of good quality (Presentence Investigation – Manual, 2008). Another practical issue that might be encountered is that of practice. Before presenting the report, it is necessary for social workers to practice. For instance, if the report touches on some legal issues, one should be ready handle or rather respond to such legal issues. Before presenting the report, it is therefore necessary to go through it. It is also significant to reflect on how the court is going to react to your report. Through research on the practical issues and being prepared to respond to any question or give clarification will enable one’s professional persona to flourish in any public forum. In a public show the writer’s general demeanors as well as communication are prone to scrutiny. Therefore, the way the social worker handles and presents herself in public reflects on professionalism and forms part of professional accountability. The professional ethics requires the social worker to offer service to the user with utmost representation and effectual employment of professional knowledge in addition to personal engagement. Poor presentation characterized by uninformed opinions is a signal of unprofessionalism. Presenting a report in a manner that is too casual in one’s demeanor makes one untrustworthy (Presentence Investigation – Manual, 2008). . In order to deal with any legal issues concerning social work, the social worker should interpret the statutes and their intention. Sometimes the law can be seen as a hindrance to real social work. Though the law might be thought to be imperfect, it actually represents what can be interpreted as the social will of the citizens in a democratic way. The law offers the social workers much room to exercise their judgment as well as discretion but can be irrelevant if the discretion is not used wisely. For instance in this case of the fifteen year old, it is important to review the law regarding juvenile cases before arriving at any recommendations. At the same time the welfare of the society and their safety should also be taken into consideration. Any recommendation made herein should therefore be done within the limits of the law which presents the public interest. When writing the report, it is important for the social to give accountability to law. This will thus interfere with the report writing process from data collection to giving recommendations and finally report presentation (Presentence Investigation – Manual, 2008). It is necessary to ensure that the interests of the service user do not conflict with those of the state since this might result into an ethical conflict on the side of the social worker. However in some cases this kind of conflict is less problematic. To override the teenager’s interests for example may result in the protection of the fifteen year old from harm or protecting the society from the harmful effects of his actions (Bartol, 1999). Acting forcefully against the wishes of the teenager is quite challenging though it has its justification in the harm prevention. In writing the report, it is important to take into consideration the fact that social workers are accountable to the state and their dealings must be seen in the light of the purposes that the state has towards regulating its citizen’s behavior. During the report writing process it is necessary to bear in mind that the role of the social worker is to regulate and control (Presentence Investigation – Manual, 2008). Social workers should be always be directed by a code of ethics. During the report writing process, professional ethics should be observed to the latter. Ethics are professional rules that serve as guidelines for social workers. Failure to follow the professional ethics may lead to one be called upon to account. In writing the report, it is important to show compliance to the professional code of conduct. For instance in the report writing process, the social worker is compelled to respect the autonomy of the service user throughout (Leanne,2010) . Additionally the report should be written in such a way that it promotes the well being of the service user. This will therefore call for total collaboration with the client and maintenance of correct court notes. One should take into consideration the ethical rules on the protection of the service users’ confidentiality. When writing the report it is therefore important to ensure the user confidentiality. This is important in different stages of report writing. For instance, when interviewing the accused, on is likely not to get true information if the client is not assured confidentiality. In the course of report writing the social worker needs to effectively supervise those tasks that have been assigned to others. It is very crucial to make references to the code of ethics during the report writing process (Presentence Investigation – Manual, 2008). CONCLUSION In conclusion, the major aim of preparing presentence report is to offer appropriate assistance to the court in establishing the most app the most appropriate method of dealing with the young offender. It is necessary for the report to be balanced timely, focused impartial, free from prejudiced stereotypes and jokes. In the "Presentence Investigation – Manual, 2008"2008) the information in the report should be verified, accurate as well as understandable to the young offender. Moreover the information in the report should be relevant to enable the court to make informed decisions regarding the sentence. Additionally the process involved in writing the report is quite demanding and one is often met with a number of obstacles. The report for instance should be completed within a specified period of time. Meeting the deadline can be challenging and even result into accountability issues. However, proper time management can alleviate such issues. Pre sentence reports are therefore very important in sentencing since the sentencing process is human in nature. The role played by social workers in court sentencing cannot be undermined (Presentence Investigation – Manual, 2008) References Bartol, R. 1999. Criminal Behavior. A Psychological Approach. 5th Ed.Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Prentice Hall. Cohen, S. 2008. Expert Witnessing and Scientific Testimony Surviving In The Court Room. London.CRC Press. "Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure - Rule 32 (LII 2009 Ed.)". Law.cornell.edu. Retrieved 2016 March "Presentence Investigation - Manual" (PDF). (May 2008) Michigan Courts. Christopher P. and Louise E. (2001), Going on Record: The Perils of Discussing Criminal History during the Presentence Interview 13 (6), Federal Sentencing Reporter Maveal,M. (1995), Federal Presentence Reports: Multi-Tasking at Sentencing, Seton Hall L. Rev. "Presentence Investigation - Manual" (PDF). (May 2008) Michigan Courts. Christopher P. and Louise E. (2001), Going on Record: The Perils of Discussing Criminal History during the Presentence Interview 13 (6), Federal Sentencing Reporter "The History of the Presentence Investigation Report" (PDF). Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice. Retrieved March 2016. Leanne F. (2010), Attorney Perspectives and Decisions on the Presentence Investigation Report: A Research Note 21 (1), Criminal Justice Policy Review. Read More