The Criminal Justice Decision Making Lab is dedicated to advancing corrections research across 3 main areas: offender change, parole decision making, and community supervision.
(1) In the area of offender change, the lab is examining measures and models of the mechanism of change from an individual being an active offender to a desisting citizen.
(2) In the area of parole, the lab is examining a decision making framework and the importance of quality assurance and parole board member competencies to yield improved accuracy and greater public confidence.
(3) In the area of community supervision, the lab is examining a new dynamic risk assessment approach (currently implemented in New Zealand and Iowa) to improve measurement and understanding of changes in dynamic risk and its relation to case planning and risk management.
The director of the Criminal Justice Decision Making Lab is Dr. Ralph Serin, professor at Carleton University.