Precursors to Probation and Parole Agent Communication Patterns with Female Clients

ABSTRACT

Supervising agents serve dual roles as they both help and control the over one million women in the United States (U.S.) on probation and parole as the women strive for lives free of substance abuse and crime. Previous research has found that supervising agent communication patterns have a strong influence on these positive outcomes. Little is known, however, about the precursors to the conversational and conformity communication patterns supervising agents use as they serve these dual roles for their female clients. In this study, which is part of a longer-term investigation of communication between women offenders and their supervising agents, multilevel modeling was used to investigate both the characteristics of the agent and of the women they supervise as precursors to agent communication patterns. Supervising agents’ client-specific conversational patterns were predicted by their typical self-reported conversational patterns and client assessment of agents’ patterns. Conformity patterns of agents were predicted by agent typical self-reported conformity patterns. Also, providing evidence that agents adapt their communication patterns due to recipient characteristics and behaviors, the offender characteristics of adult abuse predicted greater use of a conversation pattern, whereas offender characteristics of child abuse, antisocial attitude, and lower self-efficacy predicted lower use of a conversational pattern. Higher levels of technical violations, recent arrests, and substance abuse predicted greater use of a conformity pattern with specific clients. A conversational pattern promotes a number of positive outcomes, so this suggests the efficacy of shifting agents toward establishing this pattern, especially with women whose personal characteristics were related to the use of a conformity pattern.

KEYWORDS:

• Communication patterns
• probation and parole
• revised family communication patterns
• conversational pattern
• conformity pattern

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Items deleted from the Family Communication Patterns Scale included “I can tell my PO almost anything” from the conversational scale and “When anything really important is involved, my PO expects me to obey without question,” “If my PO does not approve of something, she does not want to know about it from me,” and “My PO expects me to obey him/her” from the authoritarian/conformity scale.

Additional information

Funding

This article is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1126162 and by a Strategic Partnership grant from the Michigan State University Foundation.

Notes on contributors

Sandi W. Smith

Sandi W. Smith (Ph.D. University of Southern California) is University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University where she formerly served as the Director of the Health and Risk Communication Center. She studies social influence and interpersonal communication in health and applied communication contexts such as tempering college drinking, communicating breast cancer risk, encouraging organ donation, and improving probation and parole. She is a Fellow of ICA, NCA Distinguished Scholar, and recipient of the ICA’s B. Aubrey Fisher Mentor and Outstanding Applied Program of Research Awards.

Merry Morash

Merry Morash (Ph.D., University of Maryland) is a Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. She focuses on gender and justice, with special emphasis on women and girls in correctional programs and violence against US and South Asian women. She is a fellow of the American Society of Criminology, and a recipient of the Mentoring awards from both the American Society of Criminology and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Brandon M. Walling

Brandon M. Walling is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. Brandon’s research applies interpersonal communication concepts and theories in the health context in order to help vulnerable and diverse groups of individuals prepare for, cope with, and recover from potentially stigmizting health identifies. Specifically, Brandon’s dissertation work explores the influence that self-disclosure and social support-seeking strategies have on social support offered in the context of discussing symptoms of mental illness with online social support networks.

Elizabeth A. Adams

Elizabeth A. Adams (M.S., Michigan State University) is a doctoral candidate in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. Her research primarily focuses on advancing understanding of criminal justice system processing by examining the experiences of those on probation or parole using frameworks from fields including communication and social psychology. Her interdisciplinary work has been presented at several academic conferences including American Society of Criminology, National Communication Association, and International Communication Association.