Ryan M Labrecque
Biographic Data
| ID | 4127014 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ryan M Labrecque |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ryan M |
| FAMILY NAME | Labrecque |
| SIGNATURE | LABRECQUE R M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Central Florida |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8468-1733 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 13 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 31 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
The New Era of Supermax Confinement
Supermax housing—long-term segregation of individuals in prison deemed too dangerous to be safely managed any other way—arose as a common practice in the United States and became a point of substantial debate in recent decades based on different views of whether the housing is needed or humane and its potential benefits or harms. This term is not consistently used, however, and now is typically characterized as a form of restrictive housing. The …
The Impact of Community Supervision Officer Training Programs on Recidivism
The Staff Training at Reducing Rearrest (STARR) model is a training program designed to help federal probation officers incorporate effective rehabilitative practices into their client interactions. While previous research demonstrates that STARR training is associated with reductions in client recidivism, it remains unknown what level of service (or “dosage”) of STARR is necessary for optimizing its treatment effectiveness. This quasi-experiment…
Smart Decarceration
This paper provides the results of a thought experiment to see what would have happened if a jurisdiction made release decisions solely based on risk assessment predictions of new arrests. Random forest imputation is used with data from all admissions to a large county jail system ( n = 28,188) to forecast new arrests for individuals detained by the court. After imputing outcome rates for the detained, we rank order everyone by their predicted pr…
Sensible Pretrial Reform
This study uses data collected from three diverse counties in the United States between 2017 and 2019 to compare the performance of a pretrial risk instrument—the Public Safety Assessment (or PSA)—to a revised version of the tool that accounts for risk of future violence in predicting three pretrial release outcomes. Results indicate the suggested three tiered release levels produced from the current PSA release conditions matrix (RCM) are better…
When Pre-Release Optimism Meets Post-Release Reality
In the identity theory of desistance, optimism is important to individual transformation. Yet unfounded optimism could be detrimental in reentry. This study developed and tested a typology of the direction and accuracy of pre-release expectations. Using longitudinal data collected pre- and post-release from 369 men and women released from prison or jail in six states, we assessed which patterns (realistic optimism, unrealistic optimism, realistic…
Revalidation of the First Step Act Risk Assessment
The First Step Act mandated the development and implementation a risk and needs assessment system for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). In response, the Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs (PATTERN) was created to assess the risk of recidivism among each person in BOP custody. This investigation represents the first external validation of PATTERN. Results indicated PATTERN is highly predictive of both general and violen…
Systemic effects of Covid‐19 policy changes on drug availability in prison
Drugs in prison can have serious consequences for prisoners, staff, and communities. In this study, we employed a natural experimental design to assess the systemic effects of the policy changes introduced by the Oregon Department of Corrections in March 2020 to slow the spread of coronavirus‐2019 (COVID‐19) on the measures of drug use and misconduct (e.g., suspended visits, precluded nonsecurity staff from entering facilities, stopped prisoner w…
Experimental effects of a restrictive housing step-down program on violent and non-violent misconduct
How can restrictive housing be prevented or reduced? Conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues confronting research and policy
Advancing Measurement of Correctional Officer Health and Wellness
Correctional work is associated with high levels of stress and poor sleep quality. Although previous research has primarily relied on correctional officers’ perceptions of these outcomes, biometric indicators can provide more objective and continuous information. Using daily data points collected from smartwatches worn by 15 prison staff over a six-week period with a single-subject ABA research design involving two control phases and a mindfulnes…
Justice involvement prediction as individuals age
OBJECTIVE: Some scholars have criticized pretrial assessments for perpetuating racial bias in the criminal legal system by offering biased predictions of future legal system outcomes. Although these critiques have some empirical support, the scholarship has yet to examine the predictive validity and differential prediction of pretrial assessments across individuals by their age. Following the guidance of the life-course literature, the present st…
Testing Predictive Biases at the Intersection of Race-Ethnicity and Sex
Pretrial assessment instruments provide courtroom actors with information about the likelihood that someone who has been charged with a criminal offense would engage in criminal behavior if released prior to trial. Although prior research supports the ability of pretrial instruments to predict pretrial outcomes, there are concerns that pretrial instruments may inadvertently exacerbate racial-ethnic and sex disparities found in the larger criminal…
Evaluating Oregon’s Justice Reinvestment Act
Many jurisdictions across the U.S. have adopted justice reinvestment initiatives (JRIs) as a strategy for reducing the use of incarceration and mitigating large correctional budgets. In spite of this widespread adoption, little empirical research has explored the impacts of justice reinvestment policies. In response, this study employed quasiexperimental, interrupted time-series regression analyses using a decade of monthly court and corrections …
Locked up and awaiting trial
Research summary This study provides a rigorous assessment of the public safety benefits of pretrial detention by estimating the criminogenic and punitive effects of spending at least 1 week in pretrial detention across three jail systems in two states. We use a doubly robust difference‐in‐differences design to show that pretrial detention increases the odds for someone to miss a court appearance or be arrested by roughly 50% and increases the od…
Does pretrial detention influence time until re-involvement with the criminal legal system
The Impact of Community Supervision Officer Training Programs on Officer and Client Outcomes
Security Threat Management in Prison
Prison officials often rely on restrictive housing to promote institutional safety and security. However, a growing body of research indicates this type of confinement has little impact on inmate behavior or institutional order. An alternative approach involves providing the most dangerous and disruptive inmates with increased case management services and other proactive programmatic opportunities. The success of this strategy requires an ability…
Gender and Community Supervision
While correctional scholarship emphasizes the importance of addressing dynamic risk factors in changing behavior, a debate continues on the role of gendered effects relating to such factors and supervision strategies. This study advances the debate and approach to violators by examining factors that reduce recidivism among technical violators. Using a large purposive sample of people on supervision, this study assesses differences between men and…
Interpersonal Violence and Institutional Misconduct in the Los Angeles County Jail System
This study involved a mixed method evaluation of interpersonal violence and institutional misconduct in the Los Angeles county jail system. Interviews with 52 correctional staff uncovered a widely shared belief that AB 109, Prop 47, and the Rosas decision had all contributed to an increase in violence and misconduct in the jail. Analysis of administrative records indicated there was a rise in the monthly rates of these adverse outcomes from 2010 …
Core Correctional Practices in Community Supervision
Community supervision officer training programs aim to translate core correctional practices into routine practice. These training programs emphasize skill-building designed to shift supervision strategies from law enforcement/compliance-oriented to a focus on promoting and supporting behavior change. Despite evidence of their effectiveness, research finds trained officers use newly learned skills infrequently. The current study examined the impa…
The Impact of a Community Supervision Officer Training Program on Client Outcomes
A growing body of research indicates officer training in correctional supervision programs is associated with improved use of evidence-based practices and lower rates of client recidivism. This scholarship also suggests larger reductions in recidivism can be achieved when officers implement program skills with higher quality. Despite their potential, research has shown standard training regiments alone are not sufficient in making all participant…
Reforming solitary confinement
Do Perceptions of Legitimacy and Fairness Matter in Prison? Examining How Procedural and Distributive Justice Relate to Misconduct
Recent scholarship suggests disciplinary protocols and incarcerated individuals’ perceptions of procedural justice toward correctional officers may be important in influencing one’s behavior and prison order. This study provides an examination of procedural and distributive justice in prison. We surveyed a stratified random sample of 144 respondents incarcerated in Maine state prisons about their perceptions toward the disciplinary process and co…
Revisiting the Walpole Prison Solitary Confinement Study (WPSCS)
In the last decade, scholars have expressed growing concerns about the credibility of some studies in the biomedical and social sciences domains that are broadly regarded as classics, that is, studies that are widely cited as the definitive answer on a topic and are in the public interest. In the current investigation, we directed our attention toward one such classic—the Walpole Prison Solitary Confinement Study (WPSCS)—which reported that inmat…
Gauging detention dosage
Quantitative syntheses of the effects of administrative segregation on inmates’ well-being
There is a widely held belief that the use of administrative segregation (AS) produces debilitating psychological effects; however, there are also those who assert that AS is an effective strategy for reducing prison antisocial behavior and prison violence. Given these conflicting opinions it is not surprising that the use of segregation in corrections has become a hotly debated and litigated issue. To clarify the competing perspectives, two inde…
Gauging detention dosage
Does pretrial detention influence time until re-involvement with the criminal legal system
An Examination of the Inter-Rater Reliability and Rater Accuracy of the Level of Service/Case Management Inventory
Correctional agencies use risk assessment instruments for a wide range of purposes, including to help classify, manage, and treat offenders. The literature on offender risk assessment largely focuses on assessing for predictive accuracy, and far less research examines reliability in scoring. This study adds to this gap in knowledge by assessing how reliably and accurately a group of trained raters score one particular risk assessment tool, the Le…
The Effects of Administrative Segregation
This essay considers debate over the extent to which some inmates should be isolated from others within prison, the impact of isolation on psychological well-being during confinement, and the implications for supermax prisons with 23-hour lockdown. The need for administrative segregation and solitary confinement is assessed in the context of improving the safety of individual inmates as well as preventing collective violence. These ideas are cont…
Quantitative syntheses of the effects of administrative segregation on inmates’ well-being
There is a widely held belief that the use of administrative segregation (AS) produces debilitating psychological effects; however, there are also those who assert that AS is an effective strategy for reducing prison antisocial behavior and prison violence. Given these conflicting opinions it is not surprising that the use of segregation in corrections has become a hotly debated and litigated issue. To clarify the competing perspectives, two inde…
Employment and Vocation Programs in Prison
Historically, work has played an important role in managing correctional populations and providing a means to reduce prisoner idleness. As correctional ideologies have shifted over time, the concept of working while incarcerated has taken on more of a rehabilitative approach. Several policies and correctional initiatives have been developed to integrate prison industry and employment services into correctional systems in an effort to address the …
An Examination of the Inter-Rater Reliability and Rater Accuracy of the Level of Service/Case Management Inventory
Correctional agencies use risk assessment instruments for a wide range of purposes, including to help classify, manage, and treat offenders. The literature on offender risk assessment largely focuses on assessing for predictive accuracy, and far less research examines reliability in scoring. This study adds to this gap in knowledge by assessing how reliably and accurately a group of trained raters score one particular risk assessment tool, the Le…
Towards a more proactive approach to brand protection
Through an adaptation of a terrorism risk assessment model, this article develops an initial proactive product counterfeiting risk assessment that is designed to focus upon a specific product’s risk for being counterfeited. The goal of developing this risk assessment is to help corporations identify the products that are most at risk for counterfeiting, thereby giving them the ability to focus their resources in the areas where the greatest oppor…
Assessing Sentencing Disparities among American Indians within the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Federal Circuit Courts
In a fair and equitable criminal justice system, one’s race should not influence their sentencing outcomes. Research studies conducted in the United States often report evidence that ethnic minorities are at an increased risk for receiving more punitive punishments at the time of their sentencing. The existing scholarship, however, has largely focused on assessing differences between Black and Hispanic defendants in relation to White defendants. …
Do Perceptions of Legitimacy and Fairness Matter in Prison? Examining How Procedural and Distributive Justice Relate to Misconduct
Recent scholarship suggests disciplinary protocols and incarcerated individuals’ perceptions of procedural justice toward correctional officers may be important in influencing one’s behavior and prison order. This study provides an examination of procedural and distributive justice in prison. We surveyed a stratified random sample of 144 respondents incarcerated in Maine state prisons about their perceptions toward the disciplinary process and co…
Revisiting the Walpole Prison Solitary Confinement Study (WPSCS)
In the last decade, scholars have expressed growing concerns about the credibility of some studies in the biomedical and social sciences domains that are broadly regarded as classics, that is, studies that are widely cited as the definitive answer on a topic and are in the public interest. In the current investigation, we directed our attention toward one such classic—the Walpole Prison Solitary Confinement Study (WPSCS)—which reported that inmat…
Gauging detention dosage
Interpersonal Violence and Institutional Misconduct in the Los Angeles County Jail System
This study involved a mixed method evaluation of interpersonal violence and institutional misconduct in the Los Angeles county jail system. Interviews with 52 correctional staff uncovered a widely shared belief that AB 109, Prop 47, and the Rosas decision had all contributed to an increase in violence and misconduct in the jail. Analysis of administrative records indicated there was a rise in the monthly rates of these adverse outcomes from 2010 …
Core Correctional Practices in Community Supervision
Community supervision officer training programs aim to translate core correctional practices into routine practice. These training programs emphasize skill-building designed to shift supervision strategies from law enforcement/compliance-oriented to a focus on promoting and supporting behavior change. Despite evidence of their effectiveness, research finds trained officers use newly learned skills infrequently. The current study examined the impa…
The Impact of a Community Supervision Officer Training Program on Client Outcomes
A growing body of research indicates officer training in correctional supervision programs is associated with improved use of evidence-based practices and lower rates of client recidivism. This scholarship also suggests larger reductions in recidivism can be achieved when officers implement program skills with higher quality. Despite their potential, research has shown standard training regiments alone are not sufficient in making all participant…
Reforming solitary confinement
Security Threat Management in Prison
Prison officials often rely on restrictive housing to promote institutional safety and security. However, a growing body of research indicates this type of confinement has little impact on inmate behavior or institutional order. An alternative approach involves providing the most dangerous and disruptive inmates with increased case management services and other proactive programmatic opportunities. The success of this strategy requires an ability…
Gender and Community Supervision
While correctional scholarship emphasizes the importance of addressing dynamic risk factors in changing behavior, a debate continues on the role of gendered effects relating to such factors and supervision strategies. This study advances the debate and approach to violators by examining factors that reduce recidivism among technical violators. Using a large purposive sample of people on supervision, this study assesses differences between men and…
The Impact of Community Supervision Officer Training Programs on Officer and Client Outcomes
Advancing Measurement of Correctional Officer Health and Wellness
Correctional work is associated with high levels of stress and poor sleep quality. Although previous research has primarily relied on correctional officers’ perceptions of these outcomes, biometric indicators can provide more objective and continuous information. Using daily data points collected from smartwatches worn by 15 prison staff over a six-week period with a single-subject ABA research design involving two control phases and a mindfulnes…
Justice involvement prediction as individuals age
OBJECTIVE: Some scholars have criticized pretrial assessments for perpetuating racial bias in the criminal legal system by offering biased predictions of future legal system outcomes. Although these critiques have some empirical support, the scholarship has yet to examine the predictive validity and differential prediction of pretrial assessments across individuals by their age. Following the guidance of the life-course literature, the present st…
Testing Predictive Biases at the Intersection of Race-Ethnicity and Sex
Pretrial assessment instruments provide courtroom actors with information about the likelihood that someone who has been charged with a criminal offense would engage in criminal behavior if released prior to trial. Although prior research supports the ability of pretrial instruments to predict pretrial outcomes, there are concerns that pretrial instruments may inadvertently exacerbate racial-ethnic and sex disparities found in the larger criminal…
Evaluating Oregon’s Justice Reinvestment Act
Many jurisdictions across the U.S. have adopted justice reinvestment initiatives (JRIs) as a strategy for reducing the use of incarceration and mitigating large correctional budgets. In spite of this widespread adoption, little empirical research has explored the impacts of justice reinvestment policies. In response, this study employed quasiexperimental, interrupted time-series regression analyses using a decade of monthly court and corrections …
Locked up and awaiting trial
Research summary This study provides a rigorous assessment of the public safety benefits of pretrial detention by estimating the criminogenic and punitive effects of spending at least 1 week in pretrial detention across three jail systems in two states. We use a doubly robust difference‐in‐differences design to show that pretrial detention increases the odds for someone to miss a court appearance or be arrested by roughly 50% and increases the od…
Does pretrial detention influence time until re-involvement with the criminal legal system
When Pre-Release Optimism Meets Post-Release Reality
In the identity theory of desistance, optimism is important to individual transformation. Yet unfounded optimism could be detrimental in reentry. This study developed and tested a typology of the direction and accuracy of pre-release expectations. Using longitudinal data collected pre- and post-release from 369 men and women released from prison or jail in six states, we assessed which patterns (realistic optimism, unrealistic optimism, realistic…
Revalidation of the First Step Act Risk Assessment
The First Step Act mandated the development and implementation a risk and needs assessment system for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). In response, the Prisoner Assessment Tool Targeting Estimated Risk and Needs (PATTERN) was created to assess the risk of recidivism among each person in BOP custody. This investigation represents the first external validation of PATTERN. Results indicated PATTERN is highly predictive of both general and violen…
Systemic effects of Covid‐19 policy changes on drug availability in prison
Drugs in prison can have serious consequences for prisoners, staff, and communities. In this study, we employed a natural experimental design to assess the systemic effects of the policy changes introduced by the Oregon Department of Corrections in March 2020 to slow the spread of coronavirus‐2019 (COVID‐19) on the measures of drug use and misconduct (e.g., suspended visits, precluded nonsecurity staff from entering facilities, stopped prisoner w…
Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis (27 works) · Psychology (27 works) · Political science (20 works) · Criminology (18 works) · Crime Patterns and Interventions (16 works) · Law (15 works) · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending (15 works) · Medicine (11 works) · Prison (11 works) · Business (10 works)