Culture, Strengths, and Risk: The Language of Pre-Sentence Reports in Indigenous Sentencing Courts and Mainstream Courts

Coulter, DJ; Forkan, ARM; Kang, YB; Trounson, JS; Anthony, T; Marchetti, E; Shepherd, SM

Culture, Strengths, and Risk: The Language of Pre-Sentence Reports in Indigenous Sentencing Courts and Mainstream Courts

Coulter, DJ Forkan, ARM Kang, YB Trounson, JS Anthony, T

Marchetti, E Shepherd, SM

Permalink

Publisher:: SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Criminal Justice and Behavior, 2023, 50, (1), pp. 76-100
Issue Date:: 2023-01-01

Closed Access

	Filename	Description	Size
	coulter-et-al-2022-culture-strengths-and-risk-the-language-of-pre-sentence-reports-in-indigenous-sentencing-courts-and.pdf	Published version	224.62 kB	Adobe PDF	View/Open

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Closed Access

This item is closed access and not available.

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Coulter, DJ
dc.contributor.author	Forkan, ARM
dc.contributor.author	Kang, YB
dc.contributor.author	Trounson, JS
dc.contributor.author	Anthony, T https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0652-0731
dc.contributor.author	Marchetti, E
dc.contributor.author	Shepherd, SM
dc.date.accessioned	2023-11-03T05:56:40Z
dc.date.available	2023-11-03T05:56:40Z
dc.date.issued	2023-01-01
dc.identifier.citation	Criminal Justice and Behavior, 2023, 50, (1), pp. 76-100
dc.identifier.issn	0093-8548
dc.identifier.issn	1552-3594
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/172977
dc.description.abstract	Pre-sentence reports (PSRs) provide important information about an individual’s background and circumstances to assist judicial officers in the sentencing process. The present study analyzed PSRs for 63 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people sentenced by either an Indigenous sentencing court or a mainstream court in the Australian State of Victoria. Using natural language processing techniques, our analyses revealed few differences between PSRs conducted for each court. However, PSRs were found to predominantly feature key words that are risk-based, with mainstream court PSRs more negatively worded than the Indigenous sentencing court’s PSRs. This may have been due to the inclusion of results from a risk and need assessment tool. Pro-social factors did comprise more than one third of extracted keywords, although the number of strength-based culture-related keywords, in particular, was low across PSRs in both courts. It is possible that courts may not be receiving all the information needed to promote individualized justice.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP180100759
dc.relation.ispartof	Criminal Justice and Behavior
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/00938548221131952
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess
dc.subject	1602 Criminology, 1701 Psychology, 1801 Law
dc.subject.classification	Criminology
dc.subject.classification	4402 Criminology
dc.subject.classification	5201 Applied and developmental psychology
dc.subject.classification	5203 Clinical and health psychology
dc.title	Culture, Strengths, and Risk: The Language of Pre-Sentence Reports in Indigenous Sentencing Courts and Mainstream Courts
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	50
utslib.for	1602 Criminology
utslib.for	1701 Psychology
utslib.for	1801 Law
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Law
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - SIC - Strengthening Indigenous Communities
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access	*
dc.date.updated	2023-11-03T05:56:38Z
pubs.issue	1
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	50
utslib.citation.issue	1

Abstract:

Pre-sentence reports (PSRs) provide important information about an individual’s background and circumstances to assist judicial officers in the sentencing process. The present study analyzed PSRs for 63 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people sentenced by either an Indigenous sentencing court or a mainstream court in the Australian State of Victoria. Using natural language processing techniques, our analyses revealed few differences between PSRs conducted for each court. However, PSRs were found to predominantly feature key words that are risk-based, with mainstream court PSRs more negatively worded than the Indigenous sentencing court’s PSRs. This may have been due to the inclusion of results from a risk and need assessment tool. Pro-social factors did comprise more than one third of extracted keywords, although the number of strength-based culture-related keywords, in particular, was low across PSRs in both courts. It is possible that courts may not be receiving all the information needed to promote individualized justice.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/172977