This thesis examines the demographic, clinical, and criminal characteristics and discharge dispositions of pre-trial defendants deemed incompetent to stand trial and non-restorable (IST/NR) in Pinal County Arizona. Currently, there is limited research on defendants who are deemed IST/NR and even less so on discharge dispositions. The study utilized comparative descriptive analysis of secondary data collected by the Pinal County Attorney Offices on IST/NR defendants and restored defendants. It employed chi-square analyses to compare key variables between defendant groups. The study found few variations in clinical, legal, and criminal characteristics observed by previous studies and no statistical differences amongst IST/NR and restored defendants. However, it found the re-offense rate of IST/NR defendants in Pinal County was considerably lower than the general prison population. Moreover, it identified a narrow use of civil commitment procedures and guardianship amongst the IST/NR defendants who have a mental illness. Implications for further research and policy for Pinal County and Arizona are made.

In the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, courts and social service systems across the country have begun establishing veterans treatment courts (VTC). The first VTC was created in 2004 and there are now over 300 in at least 35 states. Yet, their underlying assumptions have not been clearly articulated and their functioning and outcomes have not been well tested. These courts aim to reduce rates of incarceration and recidivism among justice-involved veterans and draw heavily on the structure and assumptions of drug and mental health courts. However, VTCs are different in important ways. Unlike other problem solving courts, VTCs actively express gratitude to criminal defendants (for past military service) and have the ability to connect participants to a socially-esteemed identity. Earlier problem solving courts have drawn on Tyler’s theory of procedural justice to predict a path from procedurally fair treatment and social bonds with court personnel through changes in social identity to increased perceptions of legal legitimacy and, ultimately, program completion and reduced recidivism. The present study tested a modified, version of Tyler’s theory that incorporates gratitude and focuses on veteran identity as the mediating construct between fair treatment and perceptions of legal legitimacy. A cross-sectional survey design was used with a convenience sample (N = 188) of participants in two Arizona VTCs. The results indicate that perceptions of procedural justice, perceived social bonds and receipt of gratitude are positively associated with both veteran identity and perceptions of legal legitimacy. Further, veteran identity was found to be a significant mediator between the first three constructs and legal legitimacy. Finally, neither recidivism risk nor race/ethnicity moderated the relationships. The study supports the importance of acknowledging past military service and enhancing the level of veteran identity among VTC participants. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Risk assessment instruments play a significant role in correctional intervention and guide decisions about supervision and treatment. Although advances have been made in risk assessment over the past 50 years, limited attention has been given to risk assessment for domestic violence offenders. This study investigates the use of the Domestic Violence Screening Inventory (DVSI) and the Offender Screening Tool (OST) with a sample of 573 offenders convicted of domestic violence offenses and sentenced to supervised probation in Maricopa County, Arizona. The study has two purposes. The first is to assess the predictive validity of the existing assessment tools with a sample of domestic violence offenders, using a number of probation outcomes. The second is to identify the most significant predictors of probation outcomes. Predictive validity is assessed using crosstabulations, bivariate correlations, and the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve. Logistic regression is used to identify the most significant predictors of probation outcomes. The DVSI and the OST were found to be predictive of probation outcomes and were most predictive of the outcomes petition to revoke filed, petition to revoke filed for a violation of specialized domestic violence conditions, and unsuccessful probation status. Significant predictors include demographics, criminal history, current offense, victim characteristics, static factors, supervision variables and dynamic variables. The most consistent predictors were supervision variables and dynamic risk factors. The supervision variables include being supervised on a specialized domestic violence caseload and changes in supervision, either an increase or decrease, during the probation grant. The dynamic variables include employment and substance abuse. The overall findings provide support for the continued use of the DVSI and the OST and are consistent with the literature on evidence-based practices for correctional interventions. However, the predictive validity of the assessments varied across sub-groups and the instruments were less predictive for females and offenders with non-intimate partner victims. In addition, study variables only explained a small portion of the variation in the probation outcomes. Additional research is needed, expanding beyond the psychology of criminal conduct, to continue to improve existing risk assessment tools and identify more salient predictors of probation outcomes for domestic violence offenders.