Problem:
Classifying prisoners for treatment may be seen as addressing the needs of the individual for rehabilitation. This process is not entirely independent of the security- and custody-classification process, since inmates in the higher levels of management classification will have limited access to rehabilitation programs. However, identifying the rehabilitative needs of inmates can augment the management-classification system and provide direction for staff members who are responsible for programming. Needs assessment can be referred to as internal classification (Levinson 1988). Classification for treatment can be accomplished by the use of a needs assessment instrument or by psychological-classification systems. Needs assessment instruments are similar to the risk-assessment instruments described above, in that they are objective and based largely on historical information about the inmate. However, they tend to place more emphasis on factors such as intellectual ability emotional problems, alcohol and drug abuse, and educational back¬ ground (Van Voorhis 2000). There are three objective-classification instruments in current use that have been validated by empirical studies to address both risk and needs. One is the Level of Service Inventory- Revised (LSI-R), which is widely used throughout the English-speaking world. Another is the Community Risk/Needs Management Scale. The third is actually a family of risk/needs. Need Assignment Help?