General Interest > Tacitus' Realm
IBM's new foretelling software to be used by Florida DOC
Ursus:
Here's IBM's press release on this news, in case anyone hasn't read it yet:
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Florida Department of Juvenile Justice to Reduce Rate of Re-offenders with IBM Predictive Analytics
Press Release Source: SPSS On Wednesday April 14, 2010, 9:00 am EDT
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SPSS, an IBM (NYSE: IBM - News) Company, today announced that the Florida State Department of Juvenile Justice selected IBM predictive analytics software to reduce recidivism by determining which juveniles are likely to reoffend. Identified at-risk youth can then be placed in programs specific to the best course of treatment to ensure offenders do not re-enter the juvenile justice system.
More than 85,000 youth enter the juvenile justice system in Florida each year for varying degrees of offenses – from drug abuse to robbery or property crimes. As each youth enters the system for a different reason and with varying backgrounds, the best program for positive rehabilitation is very specific – what may work for one juvenile may not work for another.
Mark Greenwald, chief of research and planning at the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, said, “The State of Florida believes that if youth are rehabilitated with effective prevention, intervention and treatment services early in life, juveniles will not enter the adult corrections system. Our goal is to ensure juveniles do not return to the system. IBM SPSS predictive analytics will allow our organization to refine our current practice and better intervene in juvenile lives earlier to help them become — and stay — law abiding citizens.”
The organization selected IBM predictive analytics to improve its existing screening and placement process. With the new analytics system in place, Florida Department of Juvenile Justice will analyze key predictors such as past offense history, home life environment, gang affiliation and peer associations to better understand and predict which youths have a higher likelihood to reoffend.
With that information, the organization can more effectively place specific segments of juveniles into the best programs for rehabilitation. For example, juveniles identified as having a higher likelihood for re-offense can be placed in a more focused program, such as one that addresses issues on substance abuse or mental health, if appropriate to the need. Additionally, the organization will direct those youth with a lower chance of re-offense to a less restrictive program, again providing services better tailored to meet their rehabilitative needs.
Prior to predictive analytics, the organization used Excel for basic analysis on projections for the number of delinquency cases they would take in, which had limited functionality. They selected IBM SPSS predictive analytics due to the ease of use and the advanced analytic capabilities.
The organization will now utilize the new predictive analytics system as a component in many of the performance measurement analyses conducted and distributed to agency staff throughout the year. These reports assess the future of delinquency cases to evaluate what juvenile crime trends may look like in the immediate future. This information will help the organization to better plan and project staffing and other resource needs.
IBM recently also announced that the Ministry of Justice in the United Kingdom uses predictive analytics to assess the likelihood of prisoners reoffending upon their release to help improve public safety. With predictive technology from IBM, the Ministry of Justice is analyzing hidden trends and patterns within the data. IBM SPSS predictive analytics has helped identify whether offenders with specific problems such as drug and alcohol misuse are more likely to reoffend than other prisoners.
Deepak Advani, vice president of predictive analytics at IBM, said, “Predictive analytics gives government organizations worldwide a highly-sophisticated and intelligent source to create safer communities by identifying, predicting, responding to and preventing criminal activities. It gives the criminal justice system the ability to draw upon the wealth of data available to detect patterns, make reliable projections and then take the appropriate action in real time to combat crime and protect citizens.”
IBM has invested more than $12 billion to build an analytics portfolio which includes organic innovation and acquisitions. In addition, IBM has assembled 4,000 analytics consultants with industry expertise, and opened a network of seven analytics centers of excellence. Today, IBM is working with more than 250,000 clients worldwide on predictive analytics, including 22 of the top 24 global commercial banks, 18 of the world's top 22 telecommunication carriers and 11 of the top 12 U.S. specialty retailers.
To learn more about SPSS, an IBM Company, please visit: http://www.spss.com
To learn more about IBM business analytics please visit: http://www.ibm.com/gbs/bao
Contact:
Christina Preiss, SPSS, an IBM Company
cpreiss@us.ibm.com
(312) 651-3437
Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! All rights reserved.
Whooter:
--- Quote from: "Ursus" ---Geeezz. You're really on a roll today, eh? Buy into what, Whooter?
This issue of tracking and profiling software must really stick in your craw somehow.
--- End quote ---
Not at all. Its a discussion. I was curious by why you toss a photo from 1937 to discredit a software package developed today to avoid discussing it.
--- Quote ---Oh, and I did read the original press release shortly after the OP was posted. While I agree that the software is not overtly intended to "arrest kids before they commit a crime," I do have concerns that that possibility may very well happen ... considering human nature and the feasibility of being judged guilty by association alone.
...Florida Department of Juvenile Justice will analyze key predictors such as past offense history, home life environment, gang affiliation and peer associations to better understand and predict which youths have a higher likelihood to reoffend.
I can practically guarantee ya that growing up on the wrong side of the tracks is one of the predictors in that database; more tactfully phrased, of course.
--- End quote ---
Sure it could be used for the wrong reason the same as nuclear energy or the enrichment of uranium can be. But presently using predictors of where the child lives and who he hangs out with may prove valuable in helping them avoid re entering the prison system.
If a child is living in a high crime area (wrong side of the tracks) then it may benefit him to be educated specifically in this area. They could target these kids and get them the help they need and then measure their success rates. Kids in gangs would receive different education than say kids living in abusive households. If a young girls’ mother is a prostitute or lives in an area which is more densely populated with prostitution (or fits the profile) then it may benefit her to be educated in this area so that she may have a better chance to avoid this path.
--- Quote ---Incidentally, since when has profiling target populations ever even made a significant dent in crime anyway?
--- End quote ---
I don’t really know. As a society we usually spend all our time and resources reacting to problems that have already occurred. We hire police to chase people around and put them in jail after the fact. I think it is a good idea to try to reduce the crime rate by avoiding the crime to begin with. That way we need less police, people are safer and the kids are not committing crimes and therefore are more productive and happier in society. Its all upside.
...
wdtony:
Why doesn't the state of Florida just lock up every kid in the state? You never know when they might start hanging out with the wrong crowd.
Teenagers are generally crazy and stupid by nature, this is not abnormal behavior. Before a person matures, a person makes mistakes and mostly learns from them. That is, if they have been guided correctly by their parents to a certain degree.
The software to more appropriately curb juvenile crime might be created to focus on local societies as a whole, including all local government, parents and juvenile offendors etc. for the purposes of improving living conditions for all.
But to lock up anyone against their will without a crime having been committed undermines basic human liberties. I read that this was once the reason Americans fought and died in wars. We have a statue.
Julia Kochetkova:
--- Quote ---Teenagers are generally crazy and stupid by nature, this is not abnormal behavior. Before a person matures, a person makes mistakes and mostly learns from them. That is, if they have been guided correctly by their parents to a certain degree.
--- End quote ---
Would "Teenagers are generally crazy and stupid by nature" apply to children sent to programs?
Whooter:
--- Quote from: "wdtony" ---Why doesn't the state of Florida just lock up every kid in the state? You never know when they might start hanging out with the wrong crowd.
Teenagers are generally crazy and stupid by nature, this is not abnormal behavior. Before a person matures, a person makes mistakes and mostly learns from them. That is, if they have been guided correctly by their parents to a certain degree.
The software to more appropriately curb juvenile crime might be created to focus on local societies as a whole, including all local government, parents and juvenile offendors etc. for the purposes of improving living conditions for all.
But to lock up anyone against their will without a crime having been committed undermines basic human liberties. I read that this was once the reason Americans fought and died in wars. We have a statue.
--- End quote ---
wdtony, its just the opposite of what you are thinking, the software will be used to help kids who are already in jail or juvy. Kids who are in jail for various offenses will receive services based on the childs risks after they are released. For example if a child is going to be released into a family which will expose her to prostitution then this child will receive education which which will help her (in her specific area of risk) so that she heads down a better path and will not end up back in jail as an adult.
This is a move away from the cookie cutter approach of having all offenders attend AA or Na meetings (or other training) whether they are at-risk in those areas or not and focus more on their specific needs.
The whole idea is to "Not" lock up the kids and to reduce the number of kids becoming adult offenders.
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