Automated Telephone Follow-up in the Swedish Prison and Probation Services

Automated Telephone Follow-up in the Swedish Prison and Probation Services. A Randomized Controlled Trail.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether automated telephony may be used for daily assessments of paroled offenders, and whether a brief intervention based on these daily assessments may result in a more positive development compared to daily assessments only.

To study whether automated telephony could be used in paroled offenders to perform daily assessment of variables associated with recidivism in crime and to study the effects of a brief intervention based on these assessments during 30 days following probation.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Convicted criminals subject to parole
• Access to a mobile telephone
• Assigned parole officer at parole

Exclusion Criteria:

• No knowledge of spoken Swedish
• Additional intervention such as intensive supervision with electronic monitoring, or in-patient care at a health and rehabilitation clinic