Probation Supervision and the Control of Crime Opportunities: An Empirical Assessment

Mainstream accounts of community corrections supervision emphasize rehabilitation on the one hand, and surveillance and control on the other.This article, however, examines whether probation supervision is used to reduce the exposure of offenders to crime opportunities. Using data from a national community corrections survey, it finds that opportunity-focused supervision (OFS) practices are, to varying degrees, common. Most OFS activities coalesce around a distinct strategy that involves harnessing efforts of potential handlers, place managers, and capable guardians to help steer offenders away from crime opportunities, deployed somewhat independently of conventional supervision strategies. Predictors of the OFS strategy are different from other supervision approaches, and include low caseloads, juvenile supervision, and working in an office serving a rural area.