Identify and discuss the four purposes of a PSI

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

• The primary purpose is to help the court make an appropriate sentencing decision. The report should help in deciding for or against probation, determining the conditions of probation or deciding among available institutions, and determining the appropriate length of sentence.
• The PSI serves as the basis for a plan of probation or parole supervision and treatment. The report indicates the problem areas in the defendant's life, his or her capacity for using help, and the opportunities available in the community. During the investigation, the defendant usually begins to relate to the probation department, learning how probation officers (POs) work and gaining some understanding of the nature of the agency.
• The PSI assists jail and prison personnel in their classification and treatment programs. Institutions are often dependent on the report when the inmate is first received, a time when little is known other than what is contained in commitment documents: conviction and sentence data. The PSI helps institutional staff to understand and classify the offender; it can provide valuable information that will help in planning for the care, custody, and rehabilitation of the inmate. This includes everything from the type of custody required and the care of physical needs to the planning of the various phases of the institutional program. Many institutions will have little, if any, background or social, medical, and psychological information other than that provided by the PSI report. This means that the report will have an effect on the way in which an inmate is viewed and approached by institutional personnel because they will take the word of the PO over that of the offender. The ideal report can give focus and initial direction to institutional authorities for treatment and training as well as care and management.
• If the defendant is sentenced to a correctional institution, the report will eventually serve to furnish parole authorities with information pertinent to release planning and consideration for parole as well as determination of any special conditions of supervision.